Report - Adel Eastmoor Approved School aka The Leeds Reformatory for Boys

[Amarbles]

So I went into this sight for the second time today (14/04/16) with ASteve-o (28dl member), first time I went during night and explored the church as well as the main building. I do have to say it's become quite a mess compared to previous posts from a couple of years ago, I'd thought it would be worth updating you guys on the current condition.

Here's a bit of history on the place...
The complex first opened in 1857 as the Leeds Reformatory for Boys, it was founded in 1857 by the Leeds Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders, on a site deliberately chosen to be removed from the temptations of the city. There were around 50 boys at the school in 1858. The south-east range and headmaster’s house was added in 1860, when the attic floor of the initial range was converted to dormitories. The workshops of the north-east range, built by the boys in 1859, were rebuilt in 1881 after a fire, and a separate chapel to the south was added in 1882, designed by an unknown architect but apparently designed to function also as a lecture room and subsequently as a gym. There was no priest and the chapel was never consecrated. Surrounding land within the grounds was cultivated for crops and garden produce. The land was bought by Leeds City Council for £3,500 in 1875 (Aprrox £375,000 in today's money value), having been leased to the Society by the (unknown) owner previously.

A group of buildings within the central courtyard, extant in 1893, was demolished by 1908, and an extension to the rear of the master’s house dates to between 1934 and 1954. There has been some infill between the main buildings and the adjacent swimming pool since the 1960s.

The buildings continued in use as an approved school named Eastmoor School from 1933 and then a community home from 1972 until the mid 1990s. A number of separate houses were constructed around the core site from the 1950s onwards, but there has been little change to the C19 buildings externally. The site was leased to Leeds Metropolitan University from the late 1990s when the surrounding houses were used for student accommodation and in 1993 a secure unit for young offenders was built on part of the site, formerly open land also owned by Leeds City Council. It has been unused since c.2004 and has been marketed for housing development.

For more pics check my instagam - https://www.instagram.com/amarbles/

As you can see the building is quite rotten

There's Graffiti throughout the complex, adds to the eeriness

Pretty much all the windows are smashed

Parts of the building have been covered in vegetation from the courtyard

This was the side of the building close to the pool, however I could not locate the pool myself

Collapsed roof

This is a hallway on the side of the building towards the church

border between the building and the courtyard

same place as the recent picture but looking up

Here is the Church/chapel next to the main building

one of the many creepy staircases

Alot of sections of the building are completely destroyed as shown here

That's all folks!

 

[ZerO81]

This is not quite the way you do a report on here....

1.) You need to put the title in the correct format (Place visited, Month/Year of visit).
2.) You need to add some history to the report for those people who don't know anything about the site.
3.) [Most Importantly] You need to add photos to the report, not links to your site. To do this, copy the URL of each photo, then click the icon in the toolbar with the image that looks like a mountain with a sun on it, paste the URL for the photo into the subsequent box (repeat for all photos), click preview to make sure it's all displayed correctly then publish.

 

[Amarbles]

This is not quite the way you do a report on here....

1.) You need to put the title in the correct format (Place visited, Month/Year of visit).
2.) You need to add some history to the report for those people who don't know anything about the site.
3.) [Most Importantly] You need to add photos to the report, not links to your site. To do this, copy the URL of each photo, then click the icon in the toolbar with the image that looks like a mountain with a sun on it, paste the URL for the photo into the subsequent box (repeat for all photos), click preview to make sure it's all displayed correctly then publish.

Thanks mate, i'll make those corrections now!

 

[ASteve-o]

Nice pics mate,
have to say if you're thinking of going now its really hard to get into as they've boarded and welded every single entrance up except a massive wall.
Got to be careful of the houses opposite the wall also as there's one woman who has called the police every single time we have been.

 

[Oxygen Thief]

Thanks mate, i'll make those corrections now!

Nice one, thank you.

Nice pics mate,
have to say if you're thinking of going now its really hard to get into as they've boarded and welded every single entrance up except a massive wall.
Got to be careful of the houses opposite the wall also as there's one woman who has called the police every single time we have been.

Cheers the the info.

 

[Ruby_Explorer]

Loving the pictures (y)

If i'm ever in the area...

 

[Adel History]

So I went into this sight for the second time today (14/04/16) with ASteve-o (28dl member), first time I went during night and explored the church as well as the main building. I do have to say it's become quite a mess compared to previous posts from a couple of years ago, I'd thought it would be worth updating you guys on the current condition.

Here's a bit of history on the place...
The complex first opened in 1857 as the Leeds Reformatory for Boys, it was founded in 1857 by the Leeds Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders, on a site deliberately chosen to be removed from the temptations of the city. There were around 50 boys at the school in 1858. The south-east range and headmaster’s house was added in 1860, when the attic floor of the initial range was converted to dormitories. The workshops of the north-east range, built by the boys in 1859, were rebuilt in 1881 after a fire, and a separate chapel to the south was added in 1882, designed by an unknown architect but apparently designed to function also as a lecture room and subsequently as a gym. There was no priest and the chapel was never consecrated. Surrounding land within the grounds was cultivated for crops and garden produce. The land was bought by Leeds City Council for £3,500 in 1875 (Aprrox £375,000 in today's money value), having been leased to the Society by the (unknown) owner previously.

A group of buildings within the central courtyard, extant in 1893, was demolished by 1908, and an extension to the rear of the master’s house dates to between 1934 and 1954. There has been some infill between the main buildings and the adjacent swimming pool since the 1960s.

The buildings continued in use as an approved school named Eastmoor School from 1933 and then a community home from 1972 until the mid 1990s. A number of separate houses were constructed around the core site from the 1950s onwards, but there has been little change to the C19 buildings externally. The site was leased to Leeds Metropolitan University from the late 1990s when the surrounding houses were used for student accommodation and in 1993 a secure unit for young offenders was built on part of the site, formerly open land also owned by Leeds City Council. It has been unused since c.2004 and has been marketed for housing development.

For more pics check my instagam - https://www.instagram.com/amarbles/

As you can see the building is quite rotten

There's Graffiti throughout the complex, adds to the eeriness

Pretty much all the windows are smashed

Parts of the building have been covered in vegetation from the courtyard

This was the side of the building close to the pool, however I could not locate the pool myself

Collapsed roof

This is a hallway on the side of the building towards the church

border between the building and the courtyard

same place as the recent picture but looking up

Here is the Church/chapel next to the main building

one of the many creepy staircases

Alot of sections of the building are completely destroyed as shown here

That's all folks!

The unknown architect is a Mr Mosley (forget initials) - his name can be deciphered (with difficulty as the bit is ripped) on the lecture room plan at the WYSArchives.

 

[GASTONE]

theres 2 ways to the pool, one covered by a tree, one inside the part of the building on the right hand side (if you went in through the upstairs window like i did) the part covered by trees isnt that hard to notice, but it did take me a while, i wasnt leaving till i saw that pool, theres like a corridoor straight to it, imagine being stood in the centre of the place, outside, with your back to the new building, its on the right hand side

 

[Sparkly_pegasus]

Hey! I actually lived here in 2002 - it was the Leeds uni overflow. At this time half the building was used as halls, the other half was "closed off" and derelict.

I lived on the ground floor opposite the main entrance, next to the larger Theaker building. I was jealous of those living in the main buildings and the cottages further up.

We were left to our own devices in the evenings - no security on site, so we just used to run amok! It was easy enough to get into the blocked off half of the main building - many a party was had in the old empty swimming pool!

We had a "bar" that was open for a few hours in the evenings, as we were meant to have a curfew of sorts but this wasn't adhered too. I remember drinking blue VS in the bar and there was a pool table, but I didn't spend much time in there.

All in all it was an amazing experience, I'd definitively relive it if I could! I'm still urbexing now, I like to think of this building as what started my fascination.