Report - Westwood School, Rugeley, Staffordshire, August 2016

[A man called Martyn]

In the late 1930s about 50 Camps were built for use as School Camps and Camps for holidays in peace time, but in the event of war they could accommodate evacuees. However some Education Authorities realised the opportunities offered by the camps and eventually about 30 camps were being used for the education of secondary school children. Birmingham had two of these, one for boys at Shooting Butts, Cannock Chase and the girls camp was at Pipewood, Blithbury, Nr Rugeley which was opened in June,1940. The school was a cluster of wooden huts housing 240 pupils. Five of the buildings were dormitories with bunk beds. Other buildings were the usual classrooms, school hall, plus a large dining room, wash blocks and a small hospital. There were 35 acres of grounds and there were woods and fields for recreation and free time. Post war the school changed its name to Westwood school and continued as a residential special school until closure in 2002, having being replaced by a new school constructed in the grounds

 

[Ferox]

Nice little wander this one mate. You have captured it well

 

[staffordshire1210]

hi, sorry to open a first post with a sad note.

at the beginning of this month another structure was taken by fire. the interior and roof of one of the buildings next to The Firs has been consumed. the incident required the attendance of the fire service forcing pressure on the land owner to bring in measures to secure the area. 'free' access via the gap to the side of the main gate is no more.

during a model shoot there today, march 4th (after a previous rewarding scout around and shoot last november,) the land owner arrived on site with his security advisor. both were surprised at our presence but were very polite, reasonable and accommodating. however concerns were rightly raised that those with good intentions to shoot or document the site could attract (and potentially have attracted) unwanted attention from members of society who's purpose is to trash, vandalise and go further by committing arson. this is something the land owner cannot carry total resposibility for hence the need for a lockdown.

during our amicable discussion it was noted that the site may not be completely off-limits to those with legitimate desires to visit but access will be at the sole discretion of the owner. ultimately the school will be no more and time left is very short. i was told the further along the site development progresses the harder and less likely it will be that anyone will be permitted access.

enjoy while it lasts, it's been trashed more since november, only wish id found this place sooner.

cheers. J

 

[Raychvamp]

A further two buildings have been burned down and barbed wire put around the fences. I have explored this school a number of times over the past year and to see it deteriorate so quickly through vandalism is shocking. It's harder to get into the buildings now due to the main gate being tired up at the sides and the wire.

 

[Raychvamp]

I've been going into the school for around 2 years now. It's gone downhill fast. Mainly due to people wanting to ruin the experience of exploring by setting fire to it. Last time I went we couldn't get in through the side of the gate due to it being tied with barbed wire and had to resort to climbing over the green mesh fence further down, I got stuck and cut my leg open.
Razor wire in some areas too. Luckily there was a gap we could get through to explore one last time.
I drove past around 2 weeks ago just out of curiosity, still can't see any access and an addition of a metal fence blocking access to the right of the main gates. Sadly I won't be attempting to go in again. Have quite a few shots if anyone's interested?

 

[KCBDexplore]

I've been going into the school for around 2 years now. It's gone downhill fast. Mainly due to people wanting to ruin the experience of exploring by setting fire to it. Last time I went we couldn't get in through the side of the gate due to it being tied with barbed wire and had to resort to climbing over the green mesh fence further down, I got stuck and cut my leg open.
Razor wire in some areas too. Luckily there was a gap we could get through to explore one last time.
I drove past around 2 weeks ago just out of curiosity, still can't see any access and an addition of a metal fence blocking access to the right of the main gates. Sadly I won't be attempting to go in again. Have quite a few shots if anyone's interested?

Hiya Ray,
Would love to see the pictures as was just trying to plan out my second abandoned experience, sadly there's not much around me, but this news kinda makes me want to look elsewhere :')

 

[Raychvamp]

Hi guys, if you wanted to see some of my work and you have instagram search for raych_allen_urbex
You'll find some of the school on there too.

 

[adventure4000]

The last time I went to this place all the roofs had been ripped off and was trashed to hell. The barbed wire was all over the place and was not much too see as previous visits. I wonder what it is like now that the roofs have gone and I can just imagine that all the rot would be destroying this place, sad too see really as it looked like a nice retreat for disabled kids that were house bound or needed extra support.

 

[ExploringWithAl]

Me and my partner went exploring this place recently to see how different it looks now from the 16/17 year reports. Safe to say the place is trashed! Nature and the elements have taken a huge toll on the school since the roofing has been removed and there has been a few fires. Several buildings completely off limits to enter due to the condition of the floor. All rotting away and huge holes so unwalkable. Looks to have had a few buildings demolished also. We were able to enter most of the residential blocks for the school.