History
There isn’t much history on this place, other than it was built in 1905 and known as Newport Borough Asylum until 1919 when it became Newport Borough Mental Hospital. During the Second World War, St Cadocs became an emergency hospital but soon thereafter returned to caring for the mentally ill.
It was designed by Alfred J Murray in a compact arrow shape - which was standard for hospitals in the early 1900s. Extensive outbuildings were added at different time points throughout the hospital’s life. Most remain active today and only a few wards are occupied in the main hospital building.
The Explore
I spent time in this hospital in 2016/2017 so I knew of it before I got into exploring. I noticed after being discharged and walking through the main hospital to the exit, that a lot of the hospital was disused with signs on natural decay. I did try and explore upstairs, but most of the doors were locked and staff were very active in all parts of the hospital on this particular day.
One day I decided to go back and see what was upstairs. It wasn’t a surprise to find that it was used to store old patient’s files, still, it was a great explore. It took me about an hour to find a way in. After waiting and waiting for somebody to come out the front entrance so I could slip inside, I gave up and found a sneaky way in.
I wish I spent more time here but the lights were all on sensors and kept getting set off. As it was a drab and rainy day, the lights were ever more noticeable. I actually ran into a member of staff eating their lunch in sewing room upstairs but they quickly disappeared and I never saw them again.
The best part of this explore was finding a book on psychiatry form the 1800s. It was trodden on and covered in mud but I have spent many hours looking through it.
The hospital will fall into disrepair if it’s not probably looked after. It is somewhat of the way there already, fortunately, it is mostly maintained. I believe it is highly illegal to be able to access patient records so freely so I do not recommend anyone go here unless you’re willing to face the consequences if you’re caught. My visit was late 2017/ early 2018 so I’m unsure if they’ve heightened security (although it was pretty difficult to get in undetected as it was). I estimate it becoming abandoned in the next 5-7 years just like the rest of the asylums.
Some of these photos were taken when I was a patient there and others were taken when I revisited.
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