Hellingly Mental Asylum

The East Essex County Mental Asylum, more commonly known as HellinglyHospital, is perhaps one of the most famous hospitals in the country.  This huge sprawl of an estate is located in southwest England near the village of Hellingly and has been closed for nearly 20 years.  Though most of the original site is now gone, some still remains for the adventurous urban explorer.

Building began on Hellingly in 1897 and it first opened its doors in 1903.  The structure was designed to house 700 patients although, like many hospitals during the early 20^th century, it became extremely overcrowded.  By the middle of the century, more than 1250 patients were at Hellingly, the halls crammed with beds to accommodate them.  Eventually, the hospital would close down in 1994.

The site, though it was once a very large complex, has slowly decayed over time.  It is located in the middle of nowhere, an isolated complex made to house both patients and staff.  The system of buildings was interconnected by hallways and built with a plan that emphasized, as was the new standard of the time, a great deal of open space and natural lighting to help patients’ recovery. 

The site holds a water tower, workshops, a laundry building, a sewing room, a chapel, several villas and even a hospital farm.  It was so large that it required its own railway and power station.  One of the highlights of the asylum was Hellingly Hall, a structure built to accommodate dances, theater and film showings.

Currently the site lies in a terrible state of decay. Some buildings have fallen victim to fires and most of the others have been heavily vandalized. There are plans to renovate the area and turn it into a housing complex, so many of the buildings have already been demolished.  Hellingly is not likely to stick around much longer, so if you want to see what’s left, you’ll have to rush.  In the meantime, check out an amazing collection of photos at this site.

Hellingly exterior photo courtesy of Chess via Wikicommons

Hellingly Hall photo courtesy of Tuna-baron via Wikicommons