Jenal Urbex
Member
St Joseph's Orphanage was funded and built on behalf of a wealthy widow named "Maria Holland" in 1872 who was frequently donating £10,000 at a time to build the structure as Preston had one of the worst mortality rates in the UK at the time due to poor housing and low paid mill workers. In 1877 "St Joseph's Institute for the Sick and Poor" was opened. The chapel was added in 1910. The hospital could accomodate around 25 patients at a time and was run by Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy. St Joseph's Orphanage cared for around 971 children and had two dormitories until it closed in 1954. The top floor of the old orphanage was used for accomodation for the nuns working in the hospital. The hospital cared for a number of British and Belgian soldiers in WW1 and WW2. Singer George Formby died at the hospital in 1961. The hospital continued to run after the oprhanage closed however until the nuns left nursing and led to the hospitals eventual closure in 1982. In 1988 the building was converted into a care home which operated smoothly until that finally closed its doors in February 2003. The building has been abandoned ever since. There were plans to convert the building into flats in 2004 an were given the green light but the plans never went ahead. Now in 2020 a company named Czero wants to demolish the majority of the buildings that remain and build new flats around the chapel and tower end of the orphanage once redeveloped.
During this exploration in March we found an access point that we knew would not be there forever so we decided to make the most of it while it was there and ended up visiting a few times during mid-March, sadly as of this date that access point has been blocked off. During our exploration we encounter lots of interesting things inside the building. Here are some of the pictures we took.
A picture I took of the back end of the building in a back garden/courtyard.
A picture of an old doorway that led into the building during its operation.
Another face of the building from the exterior.
A picture of inside the old chapel part of the building.
One of the original windows of the building.
The stage of the chapel.
In very good condition there is stained glass window saying "Praised by Jesus Christ".
One of the stained glass windows within the chapel.
One of the old surgery machines in the old hospital.
Part of the top floor of the orphanage that has suffered a fire many years ago.
The surgery room with the table and curtains in the shot.
A newspaper from 1997 that we found in the basement of the hospital.
The central area between the old hospital and the chapel.
A piece of machinery in the attic of the hospital
Some of the old windows in the old hospital.
The old morgue that still sits the ground floor of the old hospital
Some old electrical equipment found inside the old hospital.
During this exploration in March we found an access point that we knew would not be there forever so we decided to make the most of it while it was there and ended up visiting a few times during mid-March, sadly as of this date that access point has been blocked off. During our exploration we encounter lots of interesting things inside the building. Here are some of the pictures we took.
A picture I took of the back end of the building in a back garden/courtyard.
A picture of an old doorway that led into the building during its operation.
Another face of the building from the exterior.
A picture of inside the old chapel part of the building.
One of the original windows of the building.
The stage of the chapel.
In very good condition there is stained glass window saying "Praised by Jesus Christ".
One of the stained glass windows within the chapel.
One of the old surgery machines in the old hospital.
Part of the top floor of the orphanage that has suffered a fire many years ago.
The surgery room with the table and curtains in the shot.
A newspaper from 1997 that we found in the basement of the hospital.
The central area between the old hospital and the chapel.
A piece of machinery in the attic of the hospital
Some of the old windows in the old hospital.
The old morgue that still sits the ground floor of the old hospital
Some old electrical equipment found inside the old hospital.
