Inside The Abandoned Barrow Gurney Hospital

Inside the derelict Barrow Gurney Psychiatric Hospital, just outside of Bristol in Somerset

The hospital was first built between 1934-1937 with the first patients being admitted in 1938 along with being commandeered by the Royal Navy during the outbreak of World War 2 as a Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital.

It was used then to treat seamen injured during conflicts or who were suffering from psychological distress and onwards in time until it closed in 2006 to treat mental health disorders, and had been referred to for sometime as being a very haunted colony of buildings.

It indeed had an incredibly eerie feeling to it, as the wind chased up behind you in decayed, creaky corridors, howling around broken doors.

You would turn a corner to find disturbing artworks and graffiti, the old surgery room and chair, old belongings and bedding of former patients scattered across rotting warped floors.

A couple of times we weren’t sure if we wanted to go in any further, but we did…

We explored much of the old hospital, a beautiful building surrounded by woodland and wild flowers, so sad how it had been left in such a state. But the further we wondered into the buildings, the creepy atmosphere made us realise why it was left like this.

After reading up on what happened here it sounds like they didn’t have the resources to keep the place clean and safe.

By the 1960s, reports suggest that standards in the hospital had declined, with patients complaining of boredom, grim surroundings, urine-stained chairs and a distinct lack of comfort.

In 2005 national survey of hospital cleanliness named Barrow as the dirtiest in hospital in Britain after inspectors found cigarette burns on floors, graffiti on walls, urine stains around a toilet and stains from bodily fluids on the bottom of a hoist chair.

Not long after that part of a ceiling collapsed on a patients head and in 2006 the grounds were deserted.

With the buildings left to decay, it created a playground for re-claimers, vandalism, graffiti artists and urban explorers.

Now the site is now completely demolished and plans are in place for a development of luxury housing and a retirement homes.

Artwork By JPS

Words and photos by Hannahbella @hannahbellaaaa