Night time visit with friends from a ghost-hunting group
Tried to find some new info about the place as there isn’t a lot about… Let me know what you think.
The hospital derives its name from the Aston Hall estate, which was purchased by Nottingham Corporation in 1924, although there was reportedly a military hospital in the area during the First World War, and possibly even earlier. The existing hospital was opened by the corporation in 1937. It provided care for people with learning difficulties, known at the time as, “mental defectives” and later “mentally handicapped”.
The hospital has a “villa” layout, spread over 3.2 acres of land. There are several accommodation villas as well as a purpose built leisure block and other functional buildings. This is typical of the early 1900s, when progressive ideas had replaced old style wards and corridors with a more therapeutic approach.
Villas housed approximately 50 patients each. In 1979 Aston Hall housed 478 patients and by 1985 there were 141 female and 165 male residents. At this time, the “Derby scheme” aimed to close the facility by 1995/6, with all patients being discharged into the local community (BBC Domesday). However, it wasn’t actually closed until 2004, when the final 58 patients were rehomed elsewhere.
The site has been heavily vandalised with graffiti and there is evidence of metal theft and small fires throughout. We visited all the buildings we could gain access to.
Accommodation buildings all seemed to have the same layout with single bedrooms, containing sinks, large bathrooms (with baths remaining), small toilets, kitchens and what appeared to be washrooms and large communal areas over two floors. Buildings appeared unexpectedly open and pleasantly decorated; we even found murals in some areas.
There is a leisure complex, once containing a £5m hydrotherapy pool built shortly before closure, which has since been filled in and the building that housed it destroyed. This includes a hall, which we couldn’t get into, other than the boiler room which would have been between it and the pool area. Outside, the showers and tiling remain.
We also found another building we couldn’t identify, possibly a workshop or stores area. This had two floors and a basement, with a lift and stairs. It is badly damaged, with no roof, but there is still evidence of offices, storage units and a large fridge, as well as patient property and lifting aids.
Pictures didn’t come out great because I had to borrow a camera; interesting history and place though so I’ve done my best.
NHS signs remain throughout the site
Boiler room in the pool building
Sensory room in one of the villas
Bedroom
Kitchen
Space mural, upstairs in an accommodation block
Patient’s property in the storage area
Generator
Lifting aid in the basement
Tried to find some new info about the place as there isn’t a lot about… Let me know what you think.
The hospital derives its name from the Aston Hall estate, which was purchased by Nottingham Corporation in 1924, although there was reportedly a military hospital in the area during the First World War, and possibly even earlier. The existing hospital was opened by the corporation in 1937. It provided care for people with learning difficulties, known at the time as, “mental defectives” and later “mentally handicapped”.
The hospital has a “villa” layout, spread over 3.2 acres of land. There are several accommodation villas as well as a purpose built leisure block and other functional buildings. This is typical of the early 1900s, when progressive ideas had replaced old style wards and corridors with a more therapeutic approach.
Villas housed approximately 50 patients each. In 1979 Aston Hall housed 478 patients and by 1985 there were 141 female and 165 male residents. At this time, the “Derby scheme” aimed to close the facility by 1995/6, with all patients being discharged into the local community (BBC Domesday). However, it wasn’t actually closed until 2004, when the final 58 patients were rehomed elsewhere.
The site has been heavily vandalised with graffiti and there is evidence of metal theft and small fires throughout. We visited all the buildings we could gain access to.
Accommodation buildings all seemed to have the same layout with single bedrooms, containing sinks, large bathrooms (with baths remaining), small toilets, kitchens and what appeared to be washrooms and large communal areas over two floors. Buildings appeared unexpectedly open and pleasantly decorated; we even found murals in some areas.
There is a leisure complex, once containing a £5m hydrotherapy pool built shortly before closure, which has since been filled in and the building that housed it destroyed. This includes a hall, which we couldn’t get into, other than the boiler room which would have been between it and the pool area. Outside, the showers and tiling remain.
We also found another building we couldn’t identify, possibly a workshop or stores area. This had two floors and a basement, with a lift and stairs. It is badly damaged, with no roof, but there is still evidence of offices, storage units and a large fridge, as well as patient property and lifting aids.
Pictures didn’t come out great because I had to borrow a camera; interesting history and place though so I’ve done my best.
NHS signs remain throughout the site
Boiler room in the pool building
Sensory room in one of the villas
Bedroom
Kitchen
Space mural, upstairs in an accommodation block
Patient’s property in the storage area
Generator
Lifting aid in the basement
