Hello!
Just a quickie post of this perhaps over-familiar yet undeniably photogenic location (especially as the larder is rather empty of old asylum snacks now). This has been my largest (and probably last tbh) vaguely-sprawling asylum explore, at least for the UK. I was feeling that we had arrived very late to the asylum party, but my friend pointed out that it was more that we'd arrived not just late but when everyone had passed-out and was fast asleep. But, St John's still had a couple of post-party hours to share with us, however.
Despite being an empty shell and it's wild state in retreat as the redevelopment ambles forward, it's still filled with atmosphere and attractive architecture. My friend Bedwards and I visited just prior to lockdown and had a fairly easy time of gaining access, followed by a quite relaxing mooch in unseasonably warm and sunshiny weather, which lent a weird yet welcoming holiday-esque feel to the trip - not the vibes usually generated by such places. I won't post about the history as that has been covered comprehensively on here before on some excellent posts over the years.
So instead, I've attached the video I made, it's more of a mood-piece really to capture the ambience of the day, plus some general panoramas of the interiors of the Western wings (not sure of the official ward/wing names). I've also often wondered where certain areas and points-of-interest are in such large sites, so I've stuck my stills onto a an arial view to illustrate where certain locations are approximately situated. As you can see, the weather front of redevelopment is moving East to West and is close to reaching the centre section.
YOUR exclusive cutout-and-keep St John's photo-guide, only in this week's Daily Espresso! Only 39p.
The video mood-board.
All panoramas taken in the far Western-side of the asylum. I wanted to cover all the site in panoramas, so you could almost tour every corner, but my lovely phone went to sleep after just a few snaps...Because of course it did.
Also included are a few snaps from Mabec's social media account and Youtube (by Aztec Films) to document the St John's Village development, as a contrast to show what is being carefully retained and how the building work has progressed previously. Good to see that the historic fireproof ceilings are being kept, for one. As of 2017 - "Some 184 homes are being provided by Mabec Property, with 106 of these being within the existing listed building (64 houses and 42 apartments) and 78 new homes will be built within the grounds. Prices for the new build homes start at £285,000 and Grade II listed conversions start at £220,000 for the apartments and £350,000 for the houses. Ben Sykes, new homes sales negotiator at Pygott and Crone, said: “The second phase of St John’s Village was an incredible success, with more than £2 million worth of homes selling in under two weeks." Always interesting to see the buzz that accompany these sorts of sites.
However, this blurb instantly brought to mind the episode of South Park "The City Part of Town" where Kenny's neighbourhood gets gentrified and there's a spoof development commercial complete with cheesy voiceover - sommat like this; “Phase three will see six newly renovated Grade II listed houses brought to market in one of the most highly sought-after areas in Lincolnshire". The pretension which always accompanies the sales ads for premium asylum redevelopment always makes me chuckle but at least the buildings are having their worth appreciated and are not being bulldozed.
A little bit about our mooch:
Similar to the St Crispins explore, access was essentially a walk-on and in, and once inside there was a fair amount of limbo-dancing and parkour involved due to the site being in the process of being renovated (and falling down). The site is mostly stripped of hospital details, but for me at least the draw of these specific places are the long corridors, peeling paint, epic scale, beautiful features and finding oddities, rather than beds and theatres. However, I must say that the cell doors (a couple of wards still had them in-situ) and the cells themselves were very interesting, if melancholic to see this very potent reminder of how patients used to be accommodated at these institutions. Not so because of any potential abuse or invasive treatments (these sorts of places weren't as barbaric or bizarre as sensationalised pop-culture often makes out), but just imagining being in a position where you had to give up personal agency and privacy because of suffering from something that science was unsure how to treat. Aside from the gothic tales of Victorian asylums, everyday life was rather more mundane, quiet and dull. Its as the 20th century progressed that asylum life became more of a chaotic, abusive and antiquated experience. The asylum ideal well and truly soured after the 1900s, perhaps.
While exploring, we suddenly heard some mechanical rumbles, and discovered that diggers were being fired up and driving towards where we were. As we were in a smashed-up bit, there was a remote possibility that we might experience demolition from an inside perspective. But thankfully one of the diggers seemed to malfunction and the workmen spent the next three hours twiddling their thumbs watching Youtube vids while we very quietly carried on exploring above them. We were periodically joined by a ginger moggy (however, I can't be sure that the cat wasn't ethereal and hadn't seeped out of the walls, as there were a lot of cat murals). Highlights of the site were the Great Hall (patronised by ALL the pigeons), the ornate sanitation towers (which each contained a shaft and a pit of doom), the old wallpapers (all hideous and just baffling in their design), the remains of the cable/pipe-tunnels, plus the cherry-blossom on the trees which (when combined with the sunshine and stonework) made me feel like I was abroad on holiday near the sea. It's likely that work will have ground to halt on this place for the near future now. I'd like to visit again to see how the work progresses when it resumes though.
And finally... never never never...ask the internet to give an enthusiastic answer in the comments sections on your official media!
Thanks for having a nose, and try to remain calm.o_O
Just a quickie post of this perhaps over-familiar yet undeniably photogenic location (especially as the larder is rather empty of old asylum snacks now). This has been my largest (and probably last tbh) vaguely-sprawling asylum explore, at least for the UK. I was feeling that we had arrived very late to the asylum party, but my friend pointed out that it was more that we'd arrived not just late but when everyone had passed-out and was fast asleep. But, St John's still had a couple of post-party hours to share with us, however.
Despite being an empty shell and it's wild state in retreat as the redevelopment ambles forward, it's still filled with atmosphere and attractive architecture. My friend Bedwards and I visited just prior to lockdown and had a fairly easy time of gaining access, followed by a quite relaxing mooch in unseasonably warm and sunshiny weather, which lent a weird yet welcoming holiday-esque feel to the trip - not the vibes usually generated by such places. I won't post about the history as that has been covered comprehensively on here before on some excellent posts over the years.
So instead, I've attached the video I made, it's more of a mood-piece really to capture the ambience of the day, plus some general panoramas of the interiors of the Western wings (not sure of the official ward/wing names). I've also often wondered where certain areas and points-of-interest are in such large sites, so I've stuck my stills onto a an arial view to illustrate where certain locations are approximately situated. As you can see, the weather front of redevelopment is moving East to West and is close to reaching the centre section.
YOUR exclusive cutout-and-keep St John's photo-guide, only in this week's Daily Espresso! Only 39p.
The video mood-board.
All panoramas taken in the far Western-side of the asylum. I wanted to cover all the site in panoramas, so you could almost tour every corner, but my lovely phone went to sleep after just a few snaps...Because of course it did.
Also included are a few snaps from Mabec's social media account and Youtube (by Aztec Films) to document the St John's Village development, as a contrast to show what is being carefully retained and how the building work has progressed previously. Good to see that the historic fireproof ceilings are being kept, for one. As of 2017 - "Some 184 homes are being provided by Mabec Property, with 106 of these being within the existing listed building (64 houses and 42 apartments) and 78 new homes will be built within the grounds. Prices for the new build homes start at £285,000 and Grade II listed conversions start at £220,000 for the apartments and £350,000 for the houses. Ben Sykes, new homes sales negotiator at Pygott and Crone, said: “The second phase of St John’s Village was an incredible success, with more than £2 million worth of homes selling in under two weeks." Always interesting to see the buzz that accompany these sorts of sites.
However, this blurb instantly brought to mind the episode of South Park "The City Part of Town" where Kenny's neighbourhood gets gentrified and there's a spoof development commercial complete with cheesy voiceover - sommat like this; “Phase three will see six newly renovated Grade II listed houses brought to market in one of the most highly sought-after areas in Lincolnshire". The pretension which always accompanies the sales ads for premium asylum redevelopment always makes me chuckle but at least the buildings are having their worth appreciated and are not being bulldozed.
A little bit about our mooch:
Similar to the St Crispins explore, access was essentially a walk-on and in, and once inside there was a fair amount of limbo-dancing and parkour involved due to the site being in the process of being renovated (and falling down). The site is mostly stripped of hospital details, but for me at least the draw of these specific places are the long corridors, peeling paint, epic scale, beautiful features and finding oddities, rather than beds and theatres. However, I must say that the cell doors (a couple of wards still had them in-situ) and the cells themselves were very interesting, if melancholic to see this very potent reminder of how patients used to be accommodated at these institutions. Not so because of any potential abuse or invasive treatments (these sorts of places weren't as barbaric or bizarre as sensationalised pop-culture often makes out), but just imagining being in a position where you had to give up personal agency and privacy because of suffering from something that science was unsure how to treat. Aside from the gothic tales of Victorian asylums, everyday life was rather more mundane, quiet and dull. Its as the 20th century progressed that asylum life became more of a chaotic, abusive and antiquated experience. The asylum ideal well and truly soured after the 1900s, perhaps.
While exploring, we suddenly heard some mechanical rumbles, and discovered that diggers were being fired up and driving towards where we were. As we were in a smashed-up bit, there was a remote possibility that we might experience demolition from an inside perspective. But thankfully one of the diggers seemed to malfunction and the workmen spent the next three hours twiddling their thumbs watching Youtube vids while we very quietly carried on exploring above them. We were periodically joined by a ginger moggy (however, I can't be sure that the cat wasn't ethereal and hadn't seeped out of the walls, as there were a lot of cat murals). Highlights of the site were the Great Hall (patronised by ALL the pigeons), the ornate sanitation towers (which each contained a shaft and a pit of doom), the old wallpapers (all hideous and just baffling in their design), the remains of the cable/pipe-tunnels, plus the cherry-blossom on the trees which (when combined with the sunshine and stonework) made me feel like I was abroad on holiday near the sea. It's likely that work will have ground to halt on this place for the near future now. I'd like to visit again to see how the work progresses when it resumes though.
And finally... never never never...ask the internet to give an enthusiastic answer in the comments sections on your official media!
Thanks for having a nose, and try to remain calm.o_O
: Bugger. I'll message the admins I guess.
