Report - Lyndhurst Park Hotel (Glassheyes) - Southampton- July 2019

[Rachyt]

I know this place has been absolutely done to death, but it’s one literally 10 minutes from me and I’ve wanted to get inside since it closed, I only new urban exploration was a thing from March this year, so obviously it was the first one attempted, very naively!!

Strolled right up to it, and hell fire unleashed itself by what only could be compared to the purge alarm, I ran faster than I knew I could move, fell in a rabbit hole and ruptured all my calf muscles, ended up on crutches for two weeks!

Didn’t give up though, left it a couple wks and tried again, same result minus the injury.

Third time actually hauled my short ass over the Jurassic park fence, got covered in anti climb paint but had a wander round and set of a silent alarm, followed by secca turning up quite promptly, was too quick for them though.

Fourth time, no alarms, avoided sensors, hallelujah there was an access point, totally trashed inside but wow the views from the rooftop made up for the state of it so I’m more than happy it’s ticked off the list.

Brief history as I’m sure everyone knows it,

Glasshayes House is a historic country house in Lyndhurst, in The New Forest, Hampshire. Used in the 20th century as the Grand Hotel, then the Lyndhurst Park Hotel, it exists today in the form of a 1912 redesign by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The building and estate was purchased in 2014 by developers who sought to demolish it wholesale. A 2017 application to have the hotel listed may avert demolition.

 

[Rachyt]

Not sure why my pics have duplicated I do apologise but can’t edit and remove.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Thats good so I looked at em twice lol.
Seriously though good perseverance for a new explorer & some decent pics!

 

[Rachyt]

Thats good so I looked at em twice lol.
Seriously though good perseverance for a new explorer & some decent pics!

Lol yea sorry about that, no wonder they took so long to upload!
Thank you, it definitely paid off in the end, was like a dog with a bone kept on trying and got there in the end, it’s crazy looking at reports from just after it closed and over the years as it deteriorated, such a shame somewhere with so much history is just left to decay, I just hope it doesn’t end up in flames given all the planning refusals

 

[amfalconer]

Crikey, that's gone downhill in parts - marked deterioration from some of the latest posts even - I've not made it here, unlikely I ever will now.

I personally can't see the listed status happening, as other than the tenuous Conan Doyle link, there's very little of architectural merit to be seen here.

Surprised that New Forest District Council would keep such an eyesore as a dilapidated old hotel standing in an affluent area such as Lyndhurst to be honest - guessing the proposed plans are worse than the existing??

 

[Rachyt]

Crikey, that's gone downhill in parts - marked deterioration from some of the latest posts even - I've not made it here, unlikely I ever will now.

I personally can't see the listed status happening, as other than the tenuous Conan Doyle link, there's very little of architectural merit to be seen here.

Surprised that New Forest District Council would keep such an eyesore as a dilapidated old hotel standing in an affluent area such as Lyndhurst to be honest - guessing the proposed plans are worse than the existing??

It really has deteriorated quickly, a lot of the slates and tiles are off the roof now too so when bad weather sets in it’s really going to go downhill.
It was bought by Pegasus life, they planned on turning it into retirement flats but it got refused, so they applied again to do it, refused, due to locals not wanting that, they wanted another hotel to bring in more tourism to the village, Pegasus were due to appeal the refusal in December 18 but they withdrew appeal and nothing else has been submitted.
I can’t see listed status being approved either to be honest, and going by how unsafe it’s become inside now I think demolition is the only way forward.

 

[amfalconer]

Pegasus Life are a former client of my company's, we do a lot of development work in the New Forest, predominently residential, but occasionally a care home comes our way - not that we've had anything to do with the Lyndhurst Park mind.

You've got to question the logic behind the locals, the New Forest especially popular areas like Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Lymington are almost exclusively inhabited by the elderly and the affluent, few people can afford to live in these centres - what is needed is somewhere for these elderly people to retire to when life at home gets too much, or ill health forces them to reqire round the clock care - All these areas benefit from huge amounts of tourism, and all have plenty of spaces for visitors to stay, (loads within 2 mins walk of the Lyndhurst Park) You could argue, having tried to drive through Lyndhurst, that more tourism isn't the answer.... We have worked on about 6 or 7 of the larger, better-known hotels in the area - if the area was in such dire need of another hotel - perhaps the Lyndhurst Park wouldn't have failed....

 

[Rachyt]

Pegasus Life are a former client of my company's, we do a lot of development work in the New Forest, predominently residential, but occasionally a care home comes our way - not that we've had anything to do with the Lyndhurst Park mind.

You've got to question the logic behind the locals, the New Forest especially popular areas like Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst and Lymington are almost exclusively inhabited by the elderly and the affluent, few people can afford to live in these centres - what is needed is somewhere for these elderly people to retire to when life at home gets too much, or ill health forces them to reqire round the clock care - All these areas benefit from huge amounts of tourism, and all have plenty of spaces for visitors to stay, (loads within 2 mins walk of the Lyndhurst Park) You could argue, having tried to drive through Lyndhurst, that more tourism isn't the answer.... We have worked on about 6 or 7 of the larger, better-known hotels in the area - if the area was in such dire need of another hotel - perhaps the Lyndhurst Park wouldn't have failed....

Couldn’t agree with this post more, lyndhurst is a complete nightmare traffic wise especially in the summer months, there’s only a small amount of parking too for such a popular area, I think that the retirement homes would have been a fantastic utilisation of a beautiful building, there are so many hotels and b&b already, and I’m sure the local residents would only complain more if there was an increase in traffic and congestion, I feel sometimes it’s a no win situation as someone is always going to object no matter what, the longer this carries on the greater the chance of the building needing demolition and land
being sold for housing anyway.
The hotel closed due to loss of profit so surely that says it all, winter months probably don’t see enough revenue to justify such a large place.

 

[paddington bear]

This is gutting...I think I once stayed here when we were showing a pony at the New Forest Show and it was a stunning building

 

[Rachyt]

This is gutting...I think I once stayed here when we were showing a pony at the New Forest Show and it was a stunning building

It’s definitely sad seeing the sorry state it’s in now, such a waste of a grand building

 

[Thumper]

Update. Now sold to a new developer. PIRs and on site security in a caravan. I have no interest in going back inside again but I drive past it regularly so thought I'd chuck this on here. Nice report but jeez, I can't believe how awful it is since I went in 2017.

 

[Rachyt]

Update. Now sold to a new developer. PIRs and on site security in a caravan. I have no interest in going back inside again but I drive past it regularly so thought I'd chuck this on here. Nice report but jeez, I can't believe how awful it is since I went in 2017.
[/QUOTE
I walk my pup regularly over Bolton’s Bench and I noticed a few weeks ago the caravan there, spoke to the guy for around 20 mins he was very pleasant. I hope something finally gets done with it, even the outside has deteriorated significantly in the past couple months. I bet you noticed quite a difference since you went.

 

[Hidinginplanesite]

Nice bunch of photos


I went to try this about 4 years ago when I went to New forest but security was sitting outside off it so I couldn't explore it

Only got photos off some the outside

 

[Rachyt]

T

Nice bunch of photos


I went to try this about 4 years ago when I went to New forest but security was sitting outside off it so I couldn't explore it

Only got photos off some the outside

thank you, was determined to get in here but security was so tight for a while, until earlier this year we ended up going 5 times in a couple of weeks as it’s only 10 minutes from us, it’s been bought by Hoburne now and new planning is being submitted, security is again active on site so I’m glad we got in when we did, even if it’s a death trap!

 

[Hidinginplanesite]

T

thank you, was determined to get in here but security was so tight for a while, until earlier this year we ended up going 5 times in a couple of weeks as it’s only 10 minutes from us, it’s been bought by Hoburne now and new planning is being submitted, security is again active on site so I’m glad we got in when we did, even if it’s a death trap!

Everything being brought now days some building should just be left to naturally decay or restore ! Not to be delmoshed and built back into houses