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Supersonic
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So i'd usually start with some history on the explore but i'm sure everyone knows the history on Severalls. If you haven't take a look at anyone else's report, i'm sure you'll learn something!
If you're interested in Severalls, I would definitely recommend you take a look at this report from @mockney reject it is easily the best report online about this place. You can find that here - http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/severalls-lunatic-asylum-colchester-essex-1980s-2015.t98915
Today
As everyone who follows any sort of news on this place they're fully aware of the fact demolition has started and is well underway, as you will see in some of the pictures 90% of the corridors are gone and some of the buildings have been demolished including the morgue.
The place has been recently Deforested, this is apparent when you get to the site because there is mound apon mounds of logs stacked up randomly, i assume waiting to be taken away.
In September 2016 The Laurels, Oak House, Avon Dene & The Lodge were all demolished and in October Eden Villa was demolished too.
Next to the main entrance of the site a few new homes have already started to be built but the main site is still waiting on quite a bit of demolition, there are of course listed buildings on the site these include - The Watertower, Administration block, Larch House / Attendants Residence, Parts of the western wards and a few other little bits.
Unfortunately, the chapel is not listed and will be demolished from the grounds. Up until recently the stained glass windows which were installed in 1963 were to be among the rubble lying around Severalls, but they have now been reclaimed and saved from being destroyed.
The organ which was inside has been reclaimed to a french church in the area of Dinard.
From seeing other peoples pictures on various sites, facebook groups and even just news reports it shows the extent of what has already gone from the grounds. I'm sure if a drone was flown over the top of severalls it would show a different view to what is on google maps.
In terms of what is to be left, it's hard now to imagine how the listed buildings will look like when they have been renovated back to what they used to look like. But i'm confident they will do a good job. Take a look at St Johns Hospital renovation in Chelmsford, the buildings look stunning & also nearby Warley Hospital development.
The iconic kidney bowl shaped road inside the site will be used in the new housing development as the main access road.
The re-development is being carried out by a consortium of housing companies, there are set to be 730 new homes built on the site when everything is completed.
Rumor has it that the bricks used on buildings are to be re-claimed as they are London redbrick.
The Explore(s)
So, Severalls had been my 2nd ever explore back in August 2016. At this point in time the housing had only really been announced and the place had started to be Deforested and no demolition had started yet.
The security on site was in the process of being handed over and the existing security didn't seem to bothered and were pretty chilled out when we were caught.
Now you've probably all heard about the bitch of a palisade that exists at Severalls, 12ft high with some rather kind spikes on top, don't get me wrong it's not the easiest to climb but it's the only way to get in!
Once in i was immediately in love with the sheer vastness and just outright beauty of the buildings that stood before us, but before i had time to sink the exterior views in i was told to quickly run inside, but i would rather do that than be caught within the first 5 mins!
I'm in no way an expert on the buildings at Severalls so i couldn't even tell you what building we ventured into but i was just happy to be inside.
Luckily we had @mockney reject with us, basically if you haven't ever met him he's like a tour guide for this place and was great to be shown around by him.
Before i went i had a little nose at some reports on this place and of course saw the infamous Bed that seemed to make its way around different sections of the hospital. By some surprise to myself after about an hour of walking around we found it. To me it was fascinating how this place could be abandoned for 20 years and still have original beds knocking about inside.
About 10 mins after seeing that, everyone else was in the room next door and i was taking a few pics of another room when someone approached me from the left (knowing full well that everyone was on my right) turned out to be 2 guys in high-vis jackets. At this point 2 thoughts went through my mind, the first was the fact i almost shit myself with fear as i wasn't expecting anyone to be there and the second was a bit of disappointment because i could have easily spent hours more inside.
As the security escorted us off site they walked us around the inside road and i was just in awe of the buildings we walked past, i knew i had to go back.
They did the usual thing of taking our names and said not to come back for 3 months and we were to be on our way. I was quite thankful to be fair, i didn't have to climb that fence again!
Skip forward a few months to November, i thought enough was enough and i needed to get back to Severalls, so i ventured down expecting it to be very similar entrance to before, oh how wrong i was.
I knew demolition had begun but i wasn't expecting big blue anti climb walls and exterior 4x4 patrols by the new security team. It seemed like these guys weren't taking any shit! After trying many attempts we couldn't get in the way we thought so walked off to find anywhere else that looked easy to get in.
At this point we could see the 4x4's doing the patrols inside, i stupidly wandered up to the fence to have a look at the buildings at this point the security bloke drove up to us and had a chat, i think his opening sentence was 'Don't even bother tonight Lads, you won't get in'.
After chatting to this guy for about 15 mins we left defeated, but also was nice to hear about how much had already been demolished.
Now moving onto December, me and the usual crew were chatting and inevitably 'One last Visit' to Sevs popped up in conversation, we decided it was worth another little look, mainly to see how much had been taken down.
Come 10pm we were sitting in Macdonalds just thinking of the best way to get in as the usual route was now not possible, and 1 mcflurry, 6 nuggets and toffee sunday later we had the plan and executed it.
It's fair to say what i remember of this place was nothing like it was now, flood lights inside the grounds, piles of rubble everywhere and as i said earlier a few new builds already started.
As we entered the site we knew we would have to be a lot more cautious than before, mainly because security seemed pretty sharpish. After ducking low for a bit and avoiding a couple of 4x4 patrols, oh did i mention that they have huge LED spotlights on the top of their trucks? oh i didn't? well they do!
We were greeted with about 4 layers of heras fencing and the dreaded palisade! After overcoming these, and a few tense moments we were in and it was immediately evident of what is now gone.
Walking towards the end of the hallway and expecting the corridor and just seeing the outside is very weird.
After about 15mins of lying low we decided to make our way to the door into the part of the hospital where the seclusion cells were! Great for me because i've wanted to see this part of the hospital, along with the morgue but obviously couldn't do that anymore.
We spent around about 2 hours inside this time around, after a few risky torch flashes and also the security now driving inside as well we decided it was probably best to say our last goodbye to Sevs and make a quick exit. Which is what we did undisturbed by Security, but also very muddy!
Now this report is a bit different, it isn't so much about the pictures. 1 because i haven't really got very many good ones and 2 because i wanted to just share my experience of Sevs and what is currently happening on the site.
Never the less i do have a few pictures to show, these are a mix of August & December. You could probably tell as i upgraded the camera in the mean time!
Just want to say thanks to the people i explored this place with both times and helping me get in! @mockney reject @UrbanDuck @slayaaaa @oakley @mrstewie & more recently @DRZ_Explorer.
I hope this isn't the last time i see Sevs, but if it is, it was fun!
I hope you enjoy the pics.
August
December
If you're interested in Severalls, I would definitely recommend you take a look at this report from @mockney reject it is easily the best report online about this place. You can find that here - http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/severalls-lunatic-asylum-colchester-essex-1980s-2015.t98915
Today
As everyone who follows any sort of news on this place they're fully aware of the fact demolition has started and is well underway, as you will see in some of the pictures 90% of the corridors are gone and some of the buildings have been demolished including the morgue.
The place has been recently Deforested, this is apparent when you get to the site because there is mound apon mounds of logs stacked up randomly, i assume waiting to be taken away.
In September 2016 The Laurels, Oak House, Avon Dene & The Lodge were all demolished and in October Eden Villa was demolished too.
Next to the main entrance of the site a few new homes have already started to be built but the main site is still waiting on quite a bit of demolition, there are of course listed buildings on the site these include - The Watertower, Administration block, Larch House / Attendants Residence, Parts of the western wards and a few other little bits.
Unfortunately, the chapel is not listed and will be demolished from the grounds. Up until recently the stained glass windows which were installed in 1963 were to be among the rubble lying around Severalls, but they have now been reclaimed and saved from being destroyed.
The organ which was inside has been reclaimed to a french church in the area of Dinard.
From seeing other peoples pictures on various sites, facebook groups and even just news reports it shows the extent of what has already gone from the grounds. I'm sure if a drone was flown over the top of severalls it would show a different view to what is on google maps.
In terms of what is to be left, it's hard now to imagine how the listed buildings will look like when they have been renovated back to what they used to look like. But i'm confident they will do a good job. Take a look at St Johns Hospital renovation in Chelmsford, the buildings look stunning & also nearby Warley Hospital development.
The iconic kidney bowl shaped road inside the site will be used in the new housing development as the main access road.
The re-development is being carried out by a consortium of housing companies, there are set to be 730 new homes built on the site when everything is completed.
Rumor has it that the bricks used on buildings are to be re-claimed as they are London redbrick.
The Explore(s)
So, Severalls had been my 2nd ever explore back in August 2016. At this point in time the housing had only really been announced and the place had started to be Deforested and no demolition had started yet.
The security on site was in the process of being handed over and the existing security didn't seem to bothered and were pretty chilled out when we were caught.
Now you've probably all heard about the bitch of a palisade that exists at Severalls, 12ft high with some rather kind spikes on top, don't get me wrong it's not the easiest to climb but it's the only way to get in!
Once in i was immediately in love with the sheer vastness and just outright beauty of the buildings that stood before us, but before i had time to sink the exterior views in i was told to quickly run inside, but i would rather do that than be caught within the first 5 mins!
I'm in no way an expert on the buildings at Severalls so i couldn't even tell you what building we ventured into but i was just happy to be inside.
Luckily we had @mockney reject with us, basically if you haven't ever met him he's like a tour guide for this place and was great to be shown around by him.
Before i went i had a little nose at some reports on this place and of course saw the infamous Bed that seemed to make its way around different sections of the hospital. By some surprise to myself after about an hour of walking around we found it. To me it was fascinating how this place could be abandoned for 20 years and still have original beds knocking about inside.
About 10 mins after seeing that, everyone else was in the room next door and i was taking a few pics of another room when someone approached me from the left (knowing full well that everyone was on my right) turned out to be 2 guys in high-vis jackets. At this point 2 thoughts went through my mind, the first was the fact i almost shit myself with fear as i wasn't expecting anyone to be there and the second was a bit of disappointment because i could have easily spent hours more inside.
As the security escorted us off site they walked us around the inside road and i was just in awe of the buildings we walked past, i knew i had to go back.
They did the usual thing of taking our names and said not to come back for 3 months and we were to be on our way. I was quite thankful to be fair, i didn't have to climb that fence again!
Skip forward a few months to November, i thought enough was enough and i needed to get back to Severalls, so i ventured down expecting it to be very similar entrance to before, oh how wrong i was.
I knew demolition had begun but i wasn't expecting big blue anti climb walls and exterior 4x4 patrols by the new security team. It seemed like these guys weren't taking any shit! After trying many attempts we couldn't get in the way we thought so walked off to find anywhere else that looked easy to get in.
At this point we could see the 4x4's doing the patrols inside, i stupidly wandered up to the fence to have a look at the buildings at this point the security bloke drove up to us and had a chat, i think his opening sentence was 'Don't even bother tonight Lads, you won't get in'.
After chatting to this guy for about 15 mins we left defeated, but also was nice to hear about how much had already been demolished.
Now moving onto December, me and the usual crew were chatting and inevitably 'One last Visit' to Sevs popped up in conversation, we decided it was worth another little look, mainly to see how much had been taken down.
Come 10pm we were sitting in Macdonalds just thinking of the best way to get in as the usual route was now not possible, and 1 mcflurry, 6 nuggets and toffee sunday later we had the plan and executed it.
It's fair to say what i remember of this place was nothing like it was now, flood lights inside the grounds, piles of rubble everywhere and as i said earlier a few new builds already started.
As we entered the site we knew we would have to be a lot more cautious than before, mainly because security seemed pretty sharpish. After ducking low for a bit and avoiding a couple of 4x4 patrols, oh did i mention that they have huge LED spotlights on the top of their trucks? oh i didn't? well they do!
We were greeted with about 4 layers of heras fencing and the dreaded palisade! After overcoming these, and a few tense moments we were in and it was immediately evident of what is now gone.
Walking towards the end of the hallway and expecting the corridor and just seeing the outside is very weird.
After about 15mins of lying low we decided to make our way to the door into the part of the hospital where the seclusion cells were! Great for me because i've wanted to see this part of the hospital, along with the morgue but obviously couldn't do that anymore.
We spent around about 2 hours inside this time around, after a few risky torch flashes and also the security now driving inside as well we decided it was probably best to say our last goodbye to Sevs and make a quick exit. Which is what we did undisturbed by Security, but also very muddy!
Now this report is a bit different, it isn't so much about the pictures. 1 because i haven't really got very many good ones and 2 because i wanted to just share my experience of Sevs and what is currently happening on the site.
Never the less i do have a few pictures to show, these are a mix of August & December. You could probably tell as i upgraded the camera in the mean time!
Just want to say thanks to the people i explored this place with both times and helping me get in! @mockney reject @UrbanDuck @slayaaaa @oakley @mrstewie & more recently @DRZ_Explorer.
I hope this isn't the last time i see Sevs, but if it is, it was fun!
I hope you enjoy the pics.
August
December
