St. Luke’s Chapel, Runwell Hospital.
The explore…
I have been visiting Runwell hospital since 2012 and still never managed to see all the parts I wanted too.
The security there had that rather annoying system which required them to actually get off their arses and walk around the site “clocking in” at various locations with their key cards. This meant they could not sit in their portacabin all day watching porn, eating donuts and having farting competitions, so ashamedly I got caught most of the time…often in the same location right by the boiler house/water tower, which was Listed but now demolished, hmmmm.
I only found this out whilst visiting the chapel, as some miserable marketing women from the new redevelopment site galloped over to me as she saw I was carrying a weapon, sorry a camera…I would have got a more pleasant and reasonable response if I were carrying the former. There was the usual predictable yet unnecessarily shouty “What am I going to do with the photographs?” questioning. I explained myself politely, that I love architecture, history and photography and that I do this for pleasure…not profit, which she seemed most concerned about. Obviously being part of the new built redevelopment team, she has never experienced pleasure, or had any concerns or interest in architecture or history, but totally understood profit.
I asked her why the boiler house and water tower had been demolished, as it was Grade 2 Listed, it wasn’t a trick question I was just interested, but she said it wasn’t Listed. I said that I had photographed the demolition order, which clearly stated the preservation of the chapel, administration block and wonderful Art Deco boiler house and water tower. She then got very stroppy and looked like she wanted to throttle me, in fact I think she was doing it in her head. Under these circumstances I would usually remain calm, be annoyingly passive aggressive as we all hate that as it winds us up even more, then hold a mirror up to the antagonist so that they may get a glimpse of their knob jockey type of behavior, but I couldn’t be arsed, I wasn’t in one of my “lets have a laugh” kinda moods. I was upset at not seeing the boiler room and water tower but finding a pile of rubble. I wanted to be on my own, I find my own company intolerable at times but she was really pissing me off so one of us had to leave.
On with a little history…
In 1928 the East Ham and Southend-On-Sea mental health authorities formed a joint committee to create a new mental hospital, and in 1931 the Runwell site in Essex was chosen. The chapel was built within the newly designed hospital grounds in 1937. The architects were Elcock and Sutcliffe, who were prominent architects of their day in hospital designs, and had studied mental hospitals in the USA and Europe to obtain inspiration for their Runwell plan.
The chapel received Grade 2 Listed status in 2007, and is designed in what is called an eclectic Mediterranean style, typical of chapels born in the inter-war years. With its cruciform plan, Mansard roof with small semi-circular dormer windows, barrel vaulted ceiling over the nave, and separate entrances and a lobby with side rooms for epileptics, it follows the guidelines of the Commissioners in Lunacy for the day.
I think we should reinstate a Commissioner in Lunacy in today’s climate
So here’s some pic’s you loonies…
St Lukes Chapel 002 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 079 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 117 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 152 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 045 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 052 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 059 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 177 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 180 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 019 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 215 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 212 by Pretty Vacant, on FlickrSome of the “pianola piano” inside workings
St Lukes Chapel 208 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 120 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 201 by Pretty Vacant, on FlickrSadly the organ has been vandalised. I don’t know if it were by “souvenir hunters” who got disturbed and decided not to take them or if somebody thought that the stop keys were valuable, then realised they weren’t ivory, ceramic or Bakelite so decided to dump them. I found a little pile of them sat next to the organ and the others scattered over the floor. I collected up as many as I could find and took some shots. I don’t like to see things like this, it ruins other explorers the opportunity to take their pics
St Lukes 196 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 308 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 218 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 223 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 322 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 327 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes Chapel 168 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 333 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 350 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 381 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 222 by Pretty Vacant, on Flickr
St Lukes 263 by Pretty Vacant, on FlickrStaircase up to where the bell was housed.
St Lukes Chapel 232 by Pretty Vacant, on FlickrFound the lonely chair in the belfry
Thanks for lookin peoples
