Spooky Abandoned Hospitals and Asylums

Subject: Spooky Abandoned Hospitals and Asylums Thu 18 Apr 2013, 4:23 pm

http://www.weather.com/travel/abandoned-hospitals-asylums-20130416 <------ Pics are in the link

Quote :: St. John’s Hospital, Lincolnshire, England

Once clean and sterile, these abandoned hospitals and asylums are now portraits of urban decay, left in crumbling ruins and exposed to the elements. Some people find these places creepy, others find them beautiful, but all agree that these now-silent structures, many of them historic, have a haunting, eerie appeal. (Note: Most of these sites are on private property and may be covered by trespass laws.)

More than a hundred years of history are contained in the decaying walls of St. John's Hospital, a former mental asylum in Lincolnshire, England, which closed its doors in 1989. Built in 1852, the hospital was originally called the Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum, and was originally built to house 250 "penniless lunatics." Through the years, the hospital expanded its grounds to 120 acres, and included its own mortuary chapel, gardens, farmland and a burial ground, according to AsylumProjects.org. Photographers and urban explorers who visit the hospital note the grand Y-shaped staircase and cramped cells. Last year, local media outlet This is Lincolnshire reported that a property development firm has plans to build 68 news houses and 30 senior living properties on the site.

Beelitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium, Beelitz, Germany

A large complex of about 60 buildings, the tuberculosis-sanatorium-turned-military-hospital Beelitz-Heilstätten was built in phases between 1890 and 1938. The site in the Beelitzer forest was chosen for accessibility from Berlin and the area's fresh, smoke- and dust-free air, which would be therapeutic for patients, according to SlowTravelBerlin.com. As a military hospital, well-known historical figures passed through its now-crumbling doors. In October and November 1916, Adolf Hitler recuperated at Beelitz-Heilstätten after being wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme, and in December 1990 Erich Honecker was admitted to hospital after being forced to resign as the head of the East German government. The complex was completely abandoned in 2000.

Mercy Hospital, Liberty, Texas

Built in 1930, the then-named Liberty Hospital became the Mercy Hospital when the Sisters of St. Francis took over in 1935. The nuns took care of the patients and lived on the premises, according the Liberty County Vindicator, and a chapel, nursery and delivery room were later built. The hospital closed its doors in 1963, and it was demolished in 2010.

Pripyat Hospital, Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat Hospital in Ukraine once served thousands of families of men and women who worked at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear plant, and it received the first victims of the catastrophic nuclear power plant accident on April 26, 1986. It now lies in ruins, as if frozen in time—its rusty cribs still stand in the maternity ward, and doctors’ appointment boards still hang in the reception area. There are even drugs still laying scattered around, according to UK newspaper, the Daily Mail. The hospital, like the city's abandoned amusement park, is just one of the remnants of the nuclear ghost town that is Pripyat.

Cane Hill Hospital, Croydon, England

When the Cane Hill Hospital (then called Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum) opened in 1883, it was the largest institution of its type in the UK. Designed to be a self-sufficient community, the hospital had its own fire station, water tower, a farm and vegetable garden with greenhouses, according to AsylumProjects.org. In its 130-year history (the hospital closed in 1991) patients related to famous people reportedly checked in to Cane Hill, including Charlie Chaplin’s mother. Many of the buildings on the 83-hectare site were demolished in 2008. In 2010, a fire destroyed all but the front façade of the hospital.