Introduction
These photos are taken from three visits I took here in Summer after I finally found a way into the place and took the oppurtunity to explore every inch of the building (the parts that were accesable) before it was swiftly sealed back up again a few days after my final visit. So no, we didn't get permission from the people living in there since they seem to charge a ton for entry.
Ah, Newsham, one of the first places that grabbed my attention when I got into urban exploring, I think it was the sixth place I went too. The place had an urban legend like element about it, everyone's heard about it and all the ghost stories that come along with it (which I don't really believe) I had done a few small scale places, then around Spring 2017 I finally went up to Newsham Park, which turned out not to be that far. I was blown away by the sheer size and sinister look it had, it looked like the textbook definition of a creepy abandoned hospital, straight out of a horror movie. Since that day I have obviously been to a ton more places of a much larger scale and at further distances.
Back in 2017 I only managed to get inside the morgue, a hall of some sort, and the very empty pharmacy building, but not shortly before the guard dogs kicked off and we legged it. We made a few return visits, encountering the dogs face to face, having our picture taken by "security", getting our clothes ripped to shreds by barbed wire, and bumping into the owner himself! And while still going in the morgue and endlessly appreciating the look of the building from the outside, we never managed to get into the actual good bits, that I had seen on photos in the past, the parts that where in the main building at the front.
Newsham stuck in my head and I didn't give up hope on getting into the good parts, I used to go past it on the way to other places and I would always stop and scan for entrances but it was sealed up tight. Then this Summer my dreams came true when me and some friends finally made it in. It was like my dreams had come to life, my prayers had been answered, this hospital meant something to me in a weird way and I am very happy to have explored it.
History
I'm almost certain everyone reading this knows the history of this place, but it would feel wrong not to include it.
Newsham Park was originally an Institute for the support and education of the orphans of British seamen. It was established by a group of leading Liverpool ship-owners in 1868. By 1899 there were 321 children in the orphanage. Notably, the orphanage housed Frederick Fleet, who in 1903 went on to become a deck boy, before ultimately becoming the lookout for the Titanic when it sank in 1912.
The First World War brought problems, and by 1918, one thousand orphans were being assisted. During the second World War, the children were evacuated to Hill Bark, the country home of a committee member, where they remained throughout the war.
in 1946, preparations were made for the orphans to return to Newsham Park, but with the expansion of the country’s social service schemes and updated laws, there was a decline in the number of resident children. As a result of financial difficulties, the orphanage closed in 1949, and in 1951, the premises were sold to the Ministry of Health for use as a hospital.
Newsham Park Hospital opened in 1954 with its own psychiatric department and received an influx of patients with mental health issues. Officially stopping the intake of new patients in 1988, by 1992 all remaining patients and staff had been relocated. Also in 1992, the Rainhill Lunatic Asylum closed and all inmates were moved to Newsham Park Asylum, where they remained until 1997 when the building was closed, and purchased by a property developer.
Newsham Park's Psychiatric Unit is reputed to have housed some notorious patients, including Ian Brady. (Or so people say).
The Explore
It's safe to say this place lives up to the expectation, at least the one I had, full of dead giveaways that it was a psychiatric hospital as you'll see, I loved every minute of it. During the first visit we only managed to get into the basement of the bulding, from there we couldn't get up to the upper floors, we returned the next day after finding a way into the upper floors and were lucky enough to spot the guard dogs asleep in the courtyard, giving us no fear that we'd get caught, the only time that felt like it could happen was when we get very close to the side of the building where people live, hpwever. we made it in and out undetected. Upon exploring that side of the building, that being the main psychiatric bit with all the spooky imagery in it, I felt amazing, I took as much time as possible just enjoying the fact I was in there, while making sure I was filling up my SD card.
We returned a few weeks later and as if it couldn't get any better, we found a way into another part of the building I'd never seen before, a building on the grounds that I belive is the nurses quarters, from what I've seen this building hasn't been photographed before. It felt like we'd just discovered a hidden secret. It turns out this building connected to the main hospital via a tunnel that leads into this dark basement. While in the nurses quarters we scared off a group of people that were trying to get in by loudly running up the stairs pretending we were security, as we went into basement we saw a crack of light coming into the hallway, which we soon beleived to be an open door leading into the courtyard, as we got closes, attempting to be as silent as possible, one of the guard dogs started barking, and we ran as fast as we could, we thought the dog had gotten into the building and was chasing us. We left the building and had a moment to think about going back in, it was agreed that we can't miss our chance at exploring this place while it was accesible so we headed back in, and soon discovered that the dog was not in the building, and what we thought was an open door was just a closed window. We looked around the basement and headed upstairs, where sadly the door was locked. I think that door would have lead directly to where the people living there stayed so it was probably best anyway (or was it?). We left feeling the great Newsham thirst had been quenched!
Day One: The Basement
Day Two: The Psychiatric Ward
These photos are taken from three visits I took here in Summer after I finally found a way into the place and took the oppurtunity to explore every inch of the building (the parts that were accesable) before it was swiftly sealed back up again a few days after my final visit. So no, we didn't get permission from the people living in there since they seem to charge a ton for entry.
Ah, Newsham, one of the first places that grabbed my attention when I got into urban exploring, I think it was the sixth place I went too. The place had an urban legend like element about it, everyone's heard about it and all the ghost stories that come along with it (which I don't really believe) I had done a few small scale places, then around Spring 2017 I finally went up to Newsham Park, which turned out not to be that far. I was blown away by the sheer size and sinister look it had, it looked like the textbook definition of a creepy abandoned hospital, straight out of a horror movie. Since that day I have obviously been to a ton more places of a much larger scale and at further distances.
Back in 2017 I only managed to get inside the morgue, a hall of some sort, and the very empty pharmacy building, but not shortly before the guard dogs kicked off and we legged it. We made a few return visits, encountering the dogs face to face, having our picture taken by "security", getting our clothes ripped to shreds by barbed wire, and bumping into the owner himself! And while still going in the morgue and endlessly appreciating the look of the building from the outside, we never managed to get into the actual good bits, that I had seen on photos in the past, the parts that where in the main building at the front.
Newsham stuck in my head and I didn't give up hope on getting into the good parts, I used to go past it on the way to other places and I would always stop and scan for entrances but it was sealed up tight. Then this Summer my dreams came true when me and some friends finally made it in. It was like my dreams had come to life, my prayers had been answered, this hospital meant something to me in a weird way and I am very happy to have explored it.
History
I'm almost certain everyone reading this knows the history of this place, but it would feel wrong not to include it.
Newsham Park was originally an Institute for the support and education of the orphans of British seamen. It was established by a group of leading Liverpool ship-owners in 1868. By 1899 there were 321 children in the orphanage. Notably, the orphanage housed Frederick Fleet, who in 1903 went on to become a deck boy, before ultimately becoming the lookout for the Titanic when it sank in 1912.
The First World War brought problems, and by 1918, one thousand orphans were being assisted. During the second World War, the children were evacuated to Hill Bark, the country home of a committee member, where they remained throughout the war.
in 1946, preparations were made for the orphans to return to Newsham Park, but with the expansion of the country’s social service schemes and updated laws, there was a decline in the number of resident children. As a result of financial difficulties, the orphanage closed in 1949, and in 1951, the premises were sold to the Ministry of Health for use as a hospital.
Newsham Park Hospital opened in 1954 with its own psychiatric department and received an influx of patients with mental health issues. Officially stopping the intake of new patients in 1988, by 1992 all remaining patients and staff had been relocated. Also in 1992, the Rainhill Lunatic Asylum closed and all inmates were moved to Newsham Park Asylum, where they remained until 1997 when the building was closed, and purchased by a property developer.
Newsham Park's Psychiatric Unit is reputed to have housed some notorious patients, including Ian Brady. (Or so people say).
The Explore
It's safe to say this place lives up to the expectation, at least the one I had, full of dead giveaways that it was a psychiatric hospital as you'll see, I loved every minute of it. During the first visit we only managed to get into the basement of the bulding, from there we couldn't get up to the upper floors, we returned the next day after finding a way into the upper floors and were lucky enough to spot the guard dogs asleep in the courtyard, giving us no fear that we'd get caught, the only time that felt like it could happen was when we get very close to the side of the building where people live, hpwever. we made it in and out undetected. Upon exploring that side of the building, that being the main psychiatric bit with all the spooky imagery in it, I felt amazing, I took as much time as possible just enjoying the fact I was in there, while making sure I was filling up my SD card.
We returned a few weeks later and as if it couldn't get any better, we found a way into another part of the building I'd never seen before, a building on the grounds that I belive is the nurses quarters, from what I've seen this building hasn't been photographed before. It felt like we'd just discovered a hidden secret. It turns out this building connected to the main hospital via a tunnel that leads into this dark basement. While in the nurses quarters we scared off a group of people that were trying to get in by loudly running up the stairs pretending we were security, as we went into basement we saw a crack of light coming into the hallway, which we soon beleived to be an open door leading into the courtyard, as we got closes, attempting to be as silent as possible, one of the guard dogs started barking, and we ran as fast as we could, we thought the dog had gotten into the building and was chasing us. We left the building and had a moment to think about going back in, it was agreed that we can't miss our chance at exploring this place while it was accesible so we headed back in, and soon discovered that the dog was not in the building, and what we thought was an open door was just a closed window. We looked around the basement and headed upstairs, where sadly the door was locked. I think that door would have lead directly to where the people living there stayed so it was probably best anyway (or was it?). We left feeling the great Newsham thirst had been quenched!
Day One: The Basement
Day Two: The Psychiatric Ward
