History
Painstakingly highlighted, copied and pasted from a certain encyclopedic website.
St Clements Hospital was a mental health hospital in Mile End, in the East End of London. It closed in 2005.
The buildings were originally built in 1848-49 as a workhouse, for the Board of Guardians of the City of London Union.
The palatial design was by architect Richard Tress and cost over £55,000 to construct, boasted central heating, a dining- hall measuring 100 feet by 50 feet, Siberian marble pillars, and a chapel with stained glass windows and a new organ. It became an infirmary for the CLU in 1874, and in 1912 the Bow Institution for the long-term sick. In 1936 it became a psychiatric unit, under the St Clement's name again. It became part of the London Hospital in 1968 and went through various organisational changes until closure in 2005. Services were transferred to a new Adult Mental Health Facility at Mile End Hospital in October 2005.
Following its closure the site was transferred from the NHS to English Partnerships, then to the Homes and Communities Agency, and eventually the Greater London Authority, who in 2011 took the site to market so that it could be sold and redeveloped. In June 2012 it was announced that St Clements would become the United Kingdom's first urban Community Land Trust, with the East London Community Land Trust[1] working in partnership with Linden Homes (Galliford Try) andPeabody Housing Trust to bring the scheme forward.
In August 2013 St Clement's was reopened to the public for the first time as the site of Shuffle Festival, a community festival showing films curated by Danny Boyle. There was also an art exhibition, music, live projections and a 'Day of the Mind' - an alternative fête day with installations by artists and scientists exploring ideas about mental health. The Day of the Mind was free to the public and supported by the Wellcome Trust. The Arts Council and Canary Wharf Group also provided support for the festival. In December 2013 Shuffle returned as the Winter Shuffle, with an extended programme of art, film, storytelling, theatre, music and science from 5–15 December.
Redevelopment officially started in March 2014, with the Mayor of London Boris Johnson breaking ground on the site.
The cost of the homes within the Community Land Trust will not be based upon the open market rate but rather linked to the average mean salaries in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The formula is reapplied every time a house within the Trust is sold, creating what organisers describe as "truly and permanently affordable housing"
The Explore
Explored with fellow 28DL member robg172 (thanks again for the driving and company!).
After seeing some of the amazing reports on St Clements on the forums I’d had my eye on this one for a while and with the re-development of the site now very much underway it was now or never. We went for an early morning access which was surprisingly swifter and easier than anticipated and resulted in a good few hours of exploring and an enjoyable day.
Once on the site it was clear to see that demolition was well underway with what appeared to be three blocks now completely gone but there was still plenty to explore, with getting to the clock tower my main goal.
We had to duck a dive a bit initially as there were builders/secca visible on site and we had a hairy moment in one building when we came across some very fresh wet bootprints on the floor accompanied by another set of prints of the canine variety so I can only assume someone was doing the rounds with a dog but luckily we never saw any more of them than that.
It’s difficult to cover any of the best stuff from St Clements that hasn’t already been brilliantly reported so I’ve tried to show something different where possible.
Disclaimer: I’d had a very heavy night the night before with my last slugs of Jaeger being sunk only a few hours earlier and I was feeling a little delicate so apologies in advance for the wonky photos.
1 – Front of main building
2 – Rear building
3 – Clock Tower from rear building
4 – Stairwell
5 – Psychiatric Intensive Care Ward
6 – Emergency Key
7 – Secure Rooms
8 – Day Room
9 – Corridor
10 – Documents
11 – Bathroom
12 – Drugs Misuse Leaflet
13 – I Spy Secca!
14 – Clocktower Stairwell
15 – View From The Clocktower (We had a nice relaxed break up here for a while with some amazing views across London)
16 – Clocktower Cogs
17 – View From The Roof
18 – Outbuilding
19 – Old Cells?
20 – My explorer buddy Mr robg172
21 – Piano
22 – Peeley Paint Fest
23 – Boiler House
24 – The Obligatory Stairwell Shot
25 – Thanks for visiting…
If you’re planning on visiting here I’d recommend doing it soon as it appears to be disappearing fast. Shame as it’s a nice site with some amazing history and atmosphere.
Hope you enjoyed!
sure there's some more pics to come from the now infamous white chair ? 
