I've got so many places to post but at this rate I seem to get round to about two a year. Particularly pleased with the photographs from a few of them so I will try and get those up first. This is an example of one of those places that's generally a bit rubbish but with a few photogenic angles that make it seem a lot nicer than it really is.
THE HISTORY
The history on this place seems to be a bit vague as it appears to have changed hands and roles a number of times. This appears to be the story. Sutton Hospital opened as a cottage hospital in 1899, split across two semi-detached houses with just 6 beds between them. Just 3 years later it was moved to a new site with 12 beds across 4 wards and in 1930 moved again to its current location, which was named Sutton and Cheam District Hospital. As of the Second World War the hospital had 130 beds with 10 emergency beds for war casualties.
The actual part of the hospital we explored was originally built as the South Metropolitan District School for Girls, established in 1884, with the main accommodation accommodated in six two-storey H-shaped blocks - three of which survive in the area we explored. The school closed in 1902, and was purchased by the Metropolitan Asylums Board, who reopened it as the Downs School for Children. The hospital continued until 1948 when it was incorporated into the St Helier Group with the NHS' emergence.
As of 2008 the hospital had 32 beds and was mainly used as an outpatients department with many of the old blocks derelict and the hospital in a poor condition. Instead of building a new hospital on the site, it was decided to pump money into improving the St Helier Hospital and 8 years later Sutton Hospital was put on the market. In 2017 the new wing at St Helier hospital opened, resulting in the closure of Sutton. The site was purchased by Sutton Council for £8 million with plans to convert part of it into a new school and the remaining land to be used by the Royal Marsden Hospital. Three original H-blocks and a chapel still survive abandoned.
THE EXPLORE
We didn't really intend to properly explore this place at all. We had set out to see some other bits in the area which would turn out to be less good, when we realised this hospital was nearby with some original disused buildings in-situ. So we thought we'd swing by for a quick recce. However, the size of these three buildings and the upper floor windows being unboarded (yay daylight) meant that it had promising shot potential. We couldn't find any sneaky ways in so it had to be quite blatant but fortunately there was very little traffic going by at this time. We only made it into two of the three abandoned blocks (A, B and C). They should be known as the decent one, the boring one and the rotten one - the good, the bad and the ugly. We'd have the pleasure of exploring the rotten one and the decent one. The rotten one was filled with pigeon poo so I cracked out the trusty P3, especially in the downstairs kitchen area where it was literally like wet mud. Everything got a nice hot wash when I got home. The decent one was somewhat more rewarding which was very welcome after the effort of getting in. Inside there was old signage, original paintwork, a few bits of furniture and photogenic natural decay and very little graffiti.
Whilst inside, we saw some kids who we had to sneak past earlier had gotten inside the perimeter. F*cking kids again! They seem to show me up on every 'difficult' explore I do lately. As we were making our way out they were surprised to find it wasn't ghosts they heard inside, but instead three lads with all kinds of photography equipment and half masks. I half except these kids I bump into exploring to be the local youths, but they often actually remind me of how we were when first exploring - curious but a bit terrified. We parted ways and said good luck before having to dash past a worker with his back turned, sitting on a bench outside the perimeter. Somehow he didn't notice us and we made our escape.
THE HISTORY
The history on this place seems to be a bit vague as it appears to have changed hands and roles a number of times. This appears to be the story. Sutton Hospital opened as a cottage hospital in 1899, split across two semi-detached houses with just 6 beds between them. Just 3 years later it was moved to a new site with 12 beds across 4 wards and in 1930 moved again to its current location, which was named Sutton and Cheam District Hospital. As of the Second World War the hospital had 130 beds with 10 emergency beds for war casualties.
The actual part of the hospital we explored was originally built as the South Metropolitan District School for Girls, established in 1884, with the main accommodation accommodated in six two-storey H-shaped blocks - three of which survive in the area we explored. The school closed in 1902, and was purchased by the Metropolitan Asylums Board, who reopened it as the Downs School for Children. The hospital continued until 1948 when it was incorporated into the St Helier Group with the NHS' emergence.
As of 2008 the hospital had 32 beds and was mainly used as an outpatients department with many of the old blocks derelict and the hospital in a poor condition. Instead of building a new hospital on the site, it was decided to pump money into improving the St Helier Hospital and 8 years later Sutton Hospital was put on the market. In 2017 the new wing at St Helier hospital opened, resulting in the closure of Sutton. The site was purchased by Sutton Council for £8 million with plans to convert part of it into a new school and the remaining land to be used by the Royal Marsden Hospital. Three original H-blocks and a chapel still survive abandoned.
THE EXPLORE
We didn't really intend to properly explore this place at all. We had set out to see some other bits in the area which would turn out to be less good, when we realised this hospital was nearby with some original disused buildings in-situ. So we thought we'd swing by for a quick recce. However, the size of these three buildings and the upper floor windows being unboarded (yay daylight) meant that it had promising shot potential. We couldn't find any sneaky ways in so it had to be quite blatant but fortunately there was very little traffic going by at this time. We only made it into two of the three abandoned blocks (A, B and C). They should be known as the decent one, the boring one and the rotten one - the good, the bad and the ugly. We'd have the pleasure of exploring the rotten one and the decent one. The rotten one was filled with pigeon poo so I cracked out the trusty P3, especially in the downstairs kitchen area where it was literally like wet mud. Everything got a nice hot wash when I got home. The decent one was somewhat more rewarding which was very welcome after the effort of getting in. Inside there was old signage, original paintwork, a few bits of furniture and photogenic natural decay and very little graffiti.
Whilst inside, we saw some kids who we had to sneak past earlier had gotten inside the perimeter. F*cking kids again! They seem to show me up on every 'difficult' explore I do lately. As we were making our way out they were surprised to find it wasn't ghosts they heard inside, but instead three lads with all kinds of photography equipment and half masks. I half except these kids I bump into exploring to be the local youths, but they often actually remind me of how we were when first exploring - curious but a bit terrified. We parted ways and said good luck before having to dash past a worker with his back turned, sitting on a bench outside the perimeter. Somehow he didn't notice us and we made our escape.
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Spot the dead rat!
That's all folks! (This post appears to be haunted by the below image which insists on reappearing even when I delete it.)
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. You can normally always find some nice bits anywhere.
