Comments on: Cane Hill, Abandoned Mental Hospital

Cane Hill, Abandoned Mental Hospital

jonson — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:44:15 -0800

Cane Hill^ is an abandoned state run lunatic asylum (link contains tons of photographs) in South London. Built in 1882, the hospital for years housed Charlie Chaplin's mother (before he became wealthy enough to rescue her). Shuttered since 1990, the locations' inherent creepiness continues to fascinate urban explorers. Inside Out has a series of interesting pieces on the location, including music & paintings inspired by Cane Hill, an essay on the location, detailed floorplans and further photographs.

By: paduasoy

paduasoy — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:35:08 -0800

Thanks - the photographs are fascinating, though the essay was fairly turgid I thought. The site reminded me of Philip Hoare's fascinating book on the now almost entirely demolished military hospital in Southampton - Spike Island: The Memory of a Military Hospital. Demolition started in 1966, by which time the building had had arson attacks and also been used as a set by Jonathan Miller for Alice in Wonderland. Hoare also found casenotes lying around - I'd be interested to know what the legal situation is about leaving patients' records in what's obviously an insecure environment.

By: quin

quin — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:39:30 -0800

Oh, so cool. This is totally going to be my fortress when I become an evil genius. It makes great sense, most people will stay away because it's creepy. The few that come exploring will be perfect test subjects for my hideous experiments. Their screams will just add to the ambiance. Now the question is, which is more evil genius appropriate? To buy it through a series of cleverly layered shell companies, or just, you know, become a squatter? Decisions, decisions...

By: biscotti

biscotti — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:53:34 -0800

Great post jonson. The first (non-Wiki) link is not only a fascinating collection of photographs, but the accompanying writing is an interesting look into the author's life and views (the comments about psychiatry and depression in particular).

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:53:55 -0800

Yeah, I'm kinda regretting linking to the essay, it's somewhat tripe. But the paintings were great.

By: moonbird

moonbird — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 16:29:49 -0800

excellent!

By: randomination

randomination — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 16:38:18 -0800

Gosh, thanks for this. I wonder if you can see it from the London-Brighton train line - I'll have to keep an eye out next time I go down there.

By: ninazer0

ninazer0 — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:00:03 -0800

Fantastic. Thankyou so much for posting this. Fascinating stuff.

By: ClarissaWAM

ClarissaWAM — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:22:45 -0800

Amazing photos & comments. In fact the whole Mechanised is awesome. I wonder if you can see it from the London-Brighton train line Heh. I may be coming up to London from Brighton on Monday. I'll definitely look out for it now.

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:30:58 -0800

In fact the whole Mechanised is awesome. You're not kidding, Clarissa - I highly recommend the section on the (disused, obviously) Tottenham Baths.

By: ClarissaWAM

ClarissaWAM — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:34:02 -0800

So far I've loved Severalls in particular. It's a shame it doesn't say where the various extracts are from. (or did I miss something?)

By: ClarissaWAM

ClarissaWAM — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 17:36:58 -0800

[oh I did miss the appendices... is it all from Madness in its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital 1913-1997, Diana Gittens (London, 1998)] then? Might have to get hold of that... ]

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 18:17:57 -0800

I've been enjoying the Mechanized site too - the photography is great and I love the attention to details. Another great post, jonson - thanks!

By: jacob hauser

jacob hauser — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 21:20:19 -0800

I just watched Silent Hill and these photos are kind of freaking me out

By: caddis

caddis — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 21:56:06 -0800

^^^^^^^^^^^^.

By: drstein

drstein — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 22:17:52 -0800

Hrm. Every image I click on gives an error like "Error: Image File Missing (media/images/medium/rachelanddylan/IOc.jpg)" Bummer.

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 22:44:09 -0800

Yeah, the images on Inside/Out no longer have full size versions, apparently; fortunately there's a ton of photos over on the Mechanized site.

By: Vindaloo

Vindaloo — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 08:33:51 -0800

If this post midly creeped you out, then you should see the movie Session 9

By: JDC8

JDC8 — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:56:38 -0800

For more creepy illict fun, check out Infiltration .