St Peters Seminary, Cardross..Scotland

[Mikeymutt]

I have always wanted to see this place, I know it's a wreck and been visited lots. But something about the place sitting in the countryside in woodlands away from everything, and you have this massive brutalist building looking like it does not belong there. Designed in 1958 and completed in 1966 it was almost out of date straight away with the Catholic church wanting to teach in the community rather than isolated seminaries. People wanting to learn to be a Catholic priest was declining rapidly. So a school that was meant to host a hundred pupils had only twenty in the late 70s. The school was closed in 1980. Sadly it's suffered at the hands of vandals over the years and is in a very sorry state. The Catholic church has never really known what to do with it. They once described it as an albatross around it's neck. They could not give it away but have to keep up security and insurance on it. It had a short use for a light show in 2016. I gather someone else took it on late last year. But God knows what they plan to do with it.

 

[Wrench]

I have always wanted to see this place, I know it's a wreck and been visited lots. But something about the place sitting in the countryside in woodlands away from everything, and you have this massive brutalist building looking like it does not belong there. Designed in 1958 and completed in 1966 it was almost out of date straight away with the Catholic church wanting to teach in the community rather than isolated seminaries. People wanting to learn to be a Catholic priest was declining rapidly. So a school that was meant to host a hundred pupils had only twenty in the late 70s. The school was closed in 1980. Sadly it's suffered at the hands of vandals over the years and is in a very sorry state. The Catholic church has never really known what to do with it. They once described it as an albatross around it's neck. They could not give it away but have to keep up security and insurance on it. It had a short use for a light show in 2016. I gather someone else took it on late last year. But God knows what they plan to do with it.View attachment 505220View attachment 505221View attachment 505222View attachment 505223View attachment 505224View attachment 505225View attachment 505226View attachment 505227View attachment 505228View attachment 505229View attachment 505230View attachment 505231View attachment 505232View attachment 505233View attachment 505234View attachment 505235View attachment 505236View attachment 505237View attachment 505238View attachment 505239View attachment 505240View attachment 505241View attachment 505242View attachment 505243View attachment 505244View attachment 505245View attachment 505246View attachment 505247View attachment 505248

That's firking lovely mate and great shots as always, I've never seen this place tbh

 

[Mikeymutt]

That's firking lovely mate and great shots as always, I've never seen this place tbh

Cheers mate. Every time I go Scotland I have wanted to see it and was glad to see it finally

 

[verdigris]

fantastic photos and what a building - it looks like something out of the former USSR circa 1975.

 

[recyclefraulein]

What an impressive building. Thank you for sharing its history. Such a shame they couldn't sell it so it could be reused. It is amazing. Would have made a wonderful retreat.

 

[wolfism]

Cheers for the update. I think everyone's wondering what the new owners will do with Cardross … it's been put forward as a conference centre, open air gallery, stabilised ruin … but it always ends up as an overgrown ruin with a hole somewhere in the fence. Been a staple of exploring up here for 15+ years.

 

[ant37]

Its been a while since I've seen St Peters, I actually thought it would look far, far worse than it did. It actually looks in better nick now than when I last visited in 2009.
I know around 2016 they were doing light shows in there, I think the owners had received some lottery funding for it and were planning to convert part of it to an art gallery.

Stunning building, great shots!

 

[HughieD]

What an amazing place and fantastic photos as usual @Mikeymutt

Looks more like something industrial doesn't it?

 

[HistoryBuff]

Very strange looking. Would make a great set for the right disaster movie. Does anyone have a photo of what it looked like when being used?

 

[wolfism]

There are some shots in this article - there's also a film by Murray Grigor which was shot at the time the building was completed.

 

[Sam Haltin]

An interesting video. Looking at the derelict state it's in and watching the video and comparing with the "then" and looking at the "now".

 

[cornish_snowdog]

IF you had given me a thousand attempts, I would never have guessed the former use of that building.
Nicely captured...

 

[HistoryBuff]

That video seems a bit out of time, I think the music gives it a strange feeling. But I will say that style of building did not look inviting when it was in use. At least not to me.

 

[night crawler]

Excellent report and photos there. the place has some great graffiti art painted on the walls. Are thouse fenced area supposed to stop you climbing the staircases?