History - During the nineteenth century Lancaster became a provincial centre for the treatment of mental illness. In 1809 it was decided that the proposed County Lunatic Asylum would be built at Lancaster; a recognition of Lancaster’s status as the county town. Lancaster Moor Hospital was Lancashire’s first County Lunatic Asylum. 1n 1907 Lancaster Moor. Additional buildings, known as Ridge Lea, were added in 1907, 1909, 1912, 1916 and 1938. These buildings were chiefly to accommodate private patients. Ridge Lea finally closed in 2016.
Explore - We attempted this last year but there was no access, it has been popular on facebook and youtube recently so we decided to go and see what the fuss was about. After walking the perimeter we found a point of entry that was relatively easy. The building itself is in a sorry state of repair and there's not a lot to see inside other than some pretty nice decay, all though it is quite atmospheric in parts. As we were exiting the building we were greeted by 2 security guards filming us climbing out, and it was quite an awkward climb so we were well and truly caught. They alluded to the fact that they had picked us up on motion sensors around the exterior. They were pretty angry and insisted we stayed put whilst they contacted the police. Once they realised that we weren't there to cause trouble they allowed us to take an exterior shot. After chatting to the security guards for about 10 minutes the police turned up. They were very reasonable and after a quick search to make sure we weren't carrying burglary equipment they sent us on our way. Meanwhile in the background a van had turned up to re-board the place, the security said that as from tomorrow they are returning to on site security. All in all far more hassle than the explore was worth.
Thanks for looking.
Explore - We attempted this last year but there was no access, it has been popular on facebook and youtube recently so we decided to go and see what the fuss was about. After walking the perimeter we found a point of entry that was relatively easy. The building itself is in a sorry state of repair and there's not a lot to see inside other than some pretty nice decay, all though it is quite atmospheric in parts. As we were exiting the building we were greeted by 2 security guards filming us climbing out, and it was quite an awkward climb so we were well and truly caught. They alluded to the fact that they had picked us up on motion sensors around the exterior. They were pretty angry and insisted we stayed put whilst they contacted the police. Once they realised that we weren't there to cause trouble they allowed us to take an exterior shot. After chatting to the security guards for about 10 minutes the police turned up. They were very reasonable and after a quick search to make sure we weren't carrying burglary equipment they sent us on our way. Meanwhile in the background a van had turned up to re-board the place, the security said that as from tomorrow they are returning to on site security. All in all far more hassle than the explore was worth.
Thanks for looking.
