Intro
Hi all,
Thanks to previous reports on 28DL, I thought I'd check this one out and wasn't disappointed. I wont go into the history of Headley Court, @mookster has done a decent write up of that in his report so check that out if you'd like to know more...
Visited with @Shlum Le Flame and my ever more courageous protege Gwejee.
As mentioned in previous reports, half of this place on one side of the road is easy to access and seemingly unguarded and the other side with the manor house has security on site including a dog.
The Explore
We visited this one over one evening and one day as the site is huge and took roughly 8 hours in total.
1st Night
We started by taking a wander around the site on the more disregarded side of the road to find our entry point. Once inside the site, we had a good mosey about and made our way in with the help of a little climbing. A feat which turned out to be pointless if we had bothered to explore the ground floor thoroughly enough.
That familiar smell of stale air and decay filled the air which I have come to associate with the intrigue of a good explore as we passed through the many very badly decayed and rotting rooms this side of the road. There is a cafeteria and ballroom/cinema room and kitchens etc but not that much to see other than some decent decay as most of this building appears to be residential.
We did stumble upon a visitors book which had the signatures of other explorers so took a moment to see who'd made it and when as well as leaving our own signatures.
After probably 2 hours or so in this U shaped building which I believe is the Airmans Block, we noticed that there was no direct access to the large hall type building in the centre of the U and gave it a go to no avail. It has been full steel sheeted and buttoned down well on the ground floor and despite our efforts and the use of a ladder conveniently left on site, we couldn't get in.
We had seen a good portion of the site by this juncture and as we made our way out of the building, Gweejee had had enough and decided to go wait at our transport.
Not satisfied, myself and @Shlum Le Flame continued on to see what remained this side of the road, a few mere service out buildings. We came to thank ourselves for making this decision.
We had to make our way over the fence in a Westerly direction from the U shape building to a set of unremarkable and fairly badly damaged but also well buttoned down facilities buildings. There wer remnants of Hi-Vis clothing an work boots as well as maintenance gear so we came to the conclusion it must be the caretakers/maintenance office.
Shortly after gaining entry (which was a bit awkward) we realised that the part we had entered was tiny and pointless (or so we thought). Making use of our efforts to get inside, we had a thorough nosey through the contents of this building and came across a filing cabinet. In this filing cabinet were loads of old folders. One of these old folders was stuffed with Architectural, Electrical and Planning maps of the site.
Knowing we had hit the informational jackpot with this, we took our time to study the maps, took pictures and left them out for any plucky explorers to discover.
After studying the maps for a while we uncovered an exploring first for us - An underground tunnel system leading from the very building we were in, under the road and across to the well secured Manor side of the road!
We paused an looked at each other, knowing we would have to follow this one through in our excitement and headed back to the U shape building to find the manhole.
Just when we thought we had found it, we got in and discovered it had been blocked up! Bollocks! Secca had done a good job...
Wanting to exhaust all possibilities we searched the rooms and stairwell adjacent and came across what must have been it! Praying the the Urbex gods, we peered into the passage and got a strong breeze into our faces - A good sign that it wasn't blocked up and hopefully free of any potentially dangerous gas.
Taking a brief pause while masking and gloving up, we made our way in and started through the long and winding underground passage. It was full of fibreglass and quite dirty so come prepared for this if attempting. A headtorch and ideally no bag is best...
The route we were planning to take took us nearly underneath the security office and directly underneath where the guard dog was posted! So still we thought it best to be quiet as possible - Not that easy in a confined space!
We had planned to hit the large newer building next to the manor at first.
After taking a few more glances at the photo of the map we had taken earlier and a couple of tight squeezes an turns, we made it to what we believed to be the first manhole cover in the large building. The cover was very heavy and took two of us to push up and slide off to one side.
The moment of truth came to see whether we were inside, and to our delight, we were.
We hopped out and explored this massive side of the complex for at least another hour. There is a gym, many large halls and even a little model of the whole site.
By this point in the night it was nearly 2am so we decided we would come back the next day to try the manor.
We found an open window and made our way out and back home.
2nd Day
On returning the next day, with Gweejee alongside us for the duration this time, we made our way back to the entrance of the tunnel and through to the other side of the road, this time taking a left and attempting the manor house.
We could see daylight at the end of the tunnel about where we had expected the manhole to be and discovered that this entrance had been busted open so other explorers must have come this way before.
WARNING - There is a window directly opposite this exit of the tunnel which looks directly at the security office so best to keep low if exploring this bit.
To our dismay, we found the original entrance to the manor blocked up and seemingly no way in to the manor or even out without possibly attracting the attention of security so we made our way back into the tunnel one more time opting this time to exit at the large building and re planning entry to the manor.
We posted up on the roof for a while keeping an eye on security and after a while noticed that he had come out of his office to do the rounds with the dog. We watched him cross the road to the relatively insecure side and as he did we agreed that this was our best opportunity at the manor.
Making the most of our short window, we sprinted to the manor house trying all options and eventually arrived at what appeared to be the only option - A tiny open window.
Now, myself, Gweejee and @Shlum Le Flame aren't the smallest blokes so this was a highly uncomfortable squeeze but we all made it in in under a minute in our haste.
Once in we had a fairly nice relaxed explore with the exception of some of the security facing windows.
This building is amazing. From the wood panelling and red musty smelling carpet to the 2 storey stone masonry windows and solid wood staircase and fireplaces, the attention to detail on this building is excellent.
We marvelled at the carvings on the fireplaces and obviously tried to get into the safes, one of which is locked and the other someone has snapped a key off into! There are even doors built into the wood panelling in some rooms that lead to the room adjacent.
This was the manor house explore we had been waiting for for some time and met all expectations. The only slight shame was that the bathroom had been destroyed and the carpet pulled up almost all the way through the manor.
We spent most of the remaining light in the day here before slinking out, exploring some of the side buildings and grounds and making our way home.
I hope you have enjoyed this rather long rambling report and respect to you if you could be asked to read the whole thing! This was about as comprehensive as I had the time to make this report so I hope its worth it.
Egg out.
Hi all,
Thanks to previous reports on 28DL, I thought I'd check this one out and wasn't disappointed. I wont go into the history of Headley Court, @mookster has done a decent write up of that in his report so check that out if you'd like to know more...
Visited with @Shlum Le Flame and my ever more courageous protege Gwejee.
As mentioned in previous reports, half of this place on one side of the road is easy to access and seemingly unguarded and the other side with the manor house has security on site including a dog.
The Explore
We visited this one over one evening and one day as the site is huge and took roughly 8 hours in total.
1st Night
We started by taking a wander around the site on the more disregarded side of the road to find our entry point. Once inside the site, we had a good mosey about and made our way in with the help of a little climbing. A feat which turned out to be pointless if we had bothered to explore the ground floor thoroughly enough.
That familiar smell of stale air and decay filled the air which I have come to associate with the intrigue of a good explore as we passed through the many very badly decayed and rotting rooms this side of the road. There is a cafeteria and ballroom/cinema room and kitchens etc but not that much to see other than some decent decay as most of this building appears to be residential.
We did stumble upon a visitors book which had the signatures of other explorers so took a moment to see who'd made it and when as well as leaving our own signatures.
After probably 2 hours or so in this U shaped building which I believe is the Airmans Block, we noticed that there was no direct access to the large hall type building in the centre of the U and gave it a go to no avail. It has been full steel sheeted and buttoned down well on the ground floor and despite our efforts and the use of a ladder conveniently left on site, we couldn't get in.
We had seen a good portion of the site by this juncture and as we made our way out of the building, Gweejee had had enough and decided to go wait at our transport.
Not satisfied, myself and @Shlum Le Flame continued on to see what remained this side of the road, a few mere service out buildings. We came to thank ourselves for making this decision.
We had to make our way over the fence in a Westerly direction from the U shape building to a set of unremarkable and fairly badly damaged but also well buttoned down facilities buildings. There wer remnants of Hi-Vis clothing an work boots as well as maintenance gear so we came to the conclusion it must be the caretakers/maintenance office.
Shortly after gaining entry (which was a bit awkward) we realised that the part we had entered was tiny and pointless (or so we thought). Making use of our efforts to get inside, we had a thorough nosey through the contents of this building and came across a filing cabinet. In this filing cabinet were loads of old folders. One of these old folders was stuffed with Architectural, Electrical and Planning maps of the site.
Knowing we had hit the informational jackpot with this, we took our time to study the maps, took pictures and left them out for any plucky explorers to discover.
After studying the maps for a while we uncovered an exploring first for us - An underground tunnel system leading from the very building we were in, under the road and across to the well secured Manor side of the road!
We paused an looked at each other, knowing we would have to follow this one through in our excitement and headed back to the U shape building to find the manhole.
Just when we thought we had found it, we got in and discovered it had been blocked up! Bollocks! Secca had done a good job...
Wanting to exhaust all possibilities we searched the rooms and stairwell adjacent and came across what must have been it! Praying the the Urbex gods, we peered into the passage and got a strong breeze into our faces - A good sign that it wasn't blocked up and hopefully free of any potentially dangerous gas.
Taking a brief pause while masking and gloving up, we made our way in and started through the long and winding underground passage. It was full of fibreglass and quite dirty so come prepared for this if attempting. A headtorch and ideally no bag is best...
The route we were planning to take took us nearly underneath the security office and directly underneath where the guard dog was posted! So still we thought it best to be quiet as possible - Not that easy in a confined space!
We had planned to hit the large newer building next to the manor at first.
After taking a few more glances at the photo of the map we had taken earlier and a couple of tight squeezes an turns, we made it to what we believed to be the first manhole cover in the large building. The cover was very heavy and took two of us to push up and slide off to one side.
The moment of truth came to see whether we were inside, and to our delight, we were.
We hopped out and explored this massive side of the complex for at least another hour. There is a gym, many large halls and even a little model of the whole site.
By this point in the night it was nearly 2am so we decided we would come back the next day to try the manor.
We found an open window and made our way out and back home.
2nd Day
On returning the next day, with Gweejee alongside us for the duration this time, we made our way back to the entrance of the tunnel and through to the other side of the road, this time taking a left and attempting the manor house.
We could see daylight at the end of the tunnel about where we had expected the manhole to be and discovered that this entrance had been busted open so other explorers must have come this way before.
WARNING - There is a window directly opposite this exit of the tunnel which looks directly at the security office so best to keep low if exploring this bit.
To our dismay, we found the original entrance to the manor blocked up and seemingly no way in to the manor or even out without possibly attracting the attention of security so we made our way back into the tunnel one more time opting this time to exit at the large building and re planning entry to the manor.
We posted up on the roof for a while keeping an eye on security and after a while noticed that he had come out of his office to do the rounds with the dog. We watched him cross the road to the relatively insecure side and as he did we agreed that this was our best opportunity at the manor.
Making the most of our short window, we sprinted to the manor house trying all options and eventually arrived at what appeared to be the only option - A tiny open window.
Now, myself, Gweejee and @Shlum Le Flame aren't the smallest blokes so this was a highly uncomfortable squeeze but we all made it in in under a minute in our haste.
Once in we had a fairly nice relaxed explore with the exception of some of the security facing windows.
This building is amazing. From the wood panelling and red musty smelling carpet to the 2 storey stone masonry windows and solid wood staircase and fireplaces, the attention to detail on this building is excellent.
We marvelled at the carvings on the fireplaces and obviously tried to get into the safes, one of which is locked and the other someone has snapped a key off into! There are even doors built into the wood panelling in some rooms that lead to the room adjacent.
This was the manor house explore we had been waiting for for some time and met all expectations. The only slight shame was that the bathroom had been destroyed and the carpet pulled up almost all the way through the manor.
We spent most of the remaining light in the day here before slinking out, exploring some of the side buildings and grounds and making our way home.
I hope you have enjoyed this rather long rambling report and respect to you if you could be asked to read the whole thing! This was about as comprehensive as I had the time to make this report so I hope its worth it.
Egg out.
