Hellingly Asylum (Hellingly Hospital)

Visited 2004 - 2006

Sitting on top of a hill overlooking the East Sussex Countryside sits the battered remains of Hellingly hospital, Formerly Hellingly Asylum. Hellingly is a prime example of the "splendid isolation" design philosophy that is present in the design of many institutional buildings of this era.

Hellingly was designed by architect GT Hine and built to a late Victorian design during a period of massive expansion for mental health facilities in Britain. Hellingly First opened its doors to patients in 1903 and continued to serve the local community for almost the next 90 years. As with so many other asylums a change in policy on the treatment of many patients meant closure of the majority of buildings in 1994.

The Hospital today has suffered over 10 years of neglect badly, arson has destroyed several buildings most notably the administration block. Vandals have been systematically removing all the windows, the easier to access ground floor areas have received the brunt of these attacks.

 

Approach through the hospital grounds,

 

 

Isolation Hospital,

 

 

The hospital Itself,

 

 

Shattered ward,

 

 

 

 

 

Enter Hellingly