The St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in Lambeth was founded in 1550, but underwent an extensive building programme between 1693 and 1709 where all of the hospital's wards were extended and over 300 more beds were added. It was also around this time that medical training was formalised at the hospital, and students began to be educated on the wards, started to attend lectures and witnessed operations, and with the popularity of the courses at the hospital increasing, it was once again extended in 1814, providing students with a whole new range of facilities for both practical and theory work, causing yet another influx of medical students to the school.
The intake of pupils at the hospital continued to rise throughout the century that followed, sadly, that all came to a halt during the outbreak of the second world war, which seriously disrupted both the hospital and the medical school, creating a rapid decline in both the volume of students willing to attend, and number of surgeons and teachers prepared to work there.
This ultimately led to the demise of the medical school, as lack of funding forced a reduction of both the wards and student facilities, badly affecting the school's reputation, then finally, in 1998, St Thomas's Hospital took the decision to merge with Guy's and Kings College Hospital, leaving both their independency and medical school behind.
This particular location has been something of a hotspot for explorer's since it's closure 12 years ago, including myself having visited it several times throughout 2019. However, it wasn't until recently that I noticed lights coming from within the building, which sparked my interest in seeing what was going on, and so last week my mate and I thought we'd investigate the situation, and what a situation it turned out to be...
After waiting around until darkness, we began to make our way onto the roof of the hospital, only to find fresh metal sheeting over every window, door and skylight, making it very apparent to us that they'd made a serious effort to keep people out. Fortunately, luck was on our side, as after just half an hour of searching, we managed to discover a considerably camouflaged entrance, and once again...
we were in
Almost instantly after scrambling our way in, we noticed the many worker's lights still left turned on in the hallways and staircases, plus all the high-vis vests and hardhats laying around, and it soon became obvious that they were carrying out some form of renovation work. It was certainly a treat not having to explore the hospital by torchlight for once, and so we took full advantage of the worker's lights and began to photograph this derelict gem. We snapped away for a good couple of hours, not realising just how much time we'd simply let slip away getting the perfect shot of the hospital utility tunnel, and in a hurry to catch the last train home, we swiftly packed up and made our way out.
Definitely worth the return trip, who knows what they'll turn that place into...
The intake of pupils at the hospital continued to rise throughout the century that followed, sadly, that all came to a halt during the outbreak of the second world war, which seriously disrupted both the hospital and the medical school, creating a rapid decline in both the volume of students willing to attend, and number of surgeons and teachers prepared to work there.
This ultimately led to the demise of the medical school, as lack of funding forced a reduction of both the wards and student facilities, badly affecting the school's reputation, then finally, in 1998, St Thomas's Hospital took the decision to merge with Guy's and Kings College Hospital, leaving both their independency and medical school behind.
This particular location has been something of a hotspot for explorer's since it's closure 12 years ago, including myself having visited it several times throughout 2019. However, it wasn't until recently that I noticed lights coming from within the building, which sparked my interest in seeing what was going on, and so last week my mate and I thought we'd investigate the situation, and what a situation it turned out to be...
After waiting around until darkness, we began to make our way onto the roof of the hospital, only to find fresh metal sheeting over every window, door and skylight, making it very apparent to us that they'd made a serious effort to keep people out. Fortunately, luck was on our side, as after just half an hour of searching, we managed to discover a considerably camouflaged entrance, and once again...
we were in
Almost instantly after scrambling our way in, we noticed the many worker's lights still left turned on in the hallways and staircases, plus all the high-vis vests and hardhats laying around, and it soon became obvious that they were carrying out some form of renovation work. It was certainly a treat not having to explore the hospital by torchlight for once, and so we took full advantage of the worker's lights and began to photograph this derelict gem. We snapped away for a good couple of hours, not realising just how much time we'd simply let slip away getting the perfect shot of the hospital utility tunnel, and in a hurry to catch the last train home, we swiftly packed up and made our way out.
Definitely worth the return trip, who knows what they'll turn that place into...
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16. (Matey found the site managers desk haha)
~ That's it, for now, folks ~
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16. (Matey found the site managers desk haha)
~ That's it, for now, folks ~
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