Greetings fellow explorers. After lurking on this website for a few weeks now, I thought it was about time I started contributing. Planning for this first report has been going on for a while, then I come on here and discover that Brewtal has posted the same location 2 days earlier - just my luck! Hopefully you will find some extra material in the following report that is both interesting and exciting.
History
Doughty house is a grade 2 listed building located near the river Thames in Richmond. It was constructed in 1770 after which some additions were made and was the home of Elizabeth Doughty until it was Bought by Francis Cook, a wealthy businessman and art collector, in 1849. The house suffered a bomb hit during the Second World War, after which it was vacated and it's art collection removed to a safer location.
The property, reported to be worth around the 15 million mark, is currently undergoing renovation.
The Explore
I have not done any real urban exploring in a long time and please note that I am no photographer! The majority of the explore was done in near total darkness as amid all my excitement, I forgot my torch and therefore had to rely on the light on my phone - which turned off whenever I went into camera mode. Suffice to say that for the large part of the explore, I was excited as I was competely bloody terrified.
I'll start with a couple of externals, taken as the sun was coming up at the end of the explore.
Front of the building
The spectacular view from the front overlooking the Thames
Ok, now it's time to get spooked ladies and gents. Let's go back a little in time to the start of the explore. It was the dead of night as I thought stealth would be my best bet to guarantee entry. The original plan was to gain entry and then wait for the sun to rise. Initially I scouted around outside and found much to my surprise, what appeared to be a light on in one of the lower rooms. Possibly a workmans light? I couldn't really be sure. After entering the rear foyer of the building I stood around for a bit not really doing much except looking east for the upcoming sunrise while puffing on my vapourizer. This was short lived though as all the liquid was soon gone leaving me twiddling my thumbs and cursing my forward planning skills. Always bring extra liquid people (or better still, top it up beforehand)!
Ahead of me was a large menacing looking doorway which looked on into nothing but blackness. I'm not ashamed to say that I scare very easily, however my curiosity eventually got the better of me. With much trepidation, I advanced into the dark unknown...
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7. Possibly my favourite photo from the trip. I find it absolutely terrifying.
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Moving on down to the ground floor.
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15 - this is the room from where the light was emitting. It was actually coming from a floodlight positioned on another building and shining into the room through a window behind me.
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18 - Chocolate and diet coke. The cornerstone of every workman's breakfast.
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After taking that last photo, I continued on towards the front lobby. I was nearly there when I heared a very troubling sound Which I think I can accurately describe as a cross between some sort of canine and a possessed pigeon. Completely spooked I froze for a while and then decided that perhaps I shouldn't push my luck. After all, things had been going rather well for my return to Urbex'ing.
I turned around and left as quickly and quietly as I could, with very few regrets. As I left the property and made my way back to the front to take a couple of externals, a security van passed by. The driver briefly glared at me but that was it.
History
Doughty house is a grade 2 listed building located near the river Thames in Richmond. It was constructed in 1770 after which some additions were made and was the home of Elizabeth Doughty until it was Bought by Francis Cook, a wealthy businessman and art collector, in 1849. The house suffered a bomb hit during the Second World War, after which it was vacated and it's art collection removed to a safer location.
The property, reported to be worth around the 15 million mark, is currently undergoing renovation.
The Explore
I have not done any real urban exploring in a long time and please note that I am no photographer! The majority of the explore was done in near total darkness as amid all my excitement, I forgot my torch and therefore had to rely on the light on my phone - which turned off whenever I went into camera mode. Suffice to say that for the large part of the explore, I was excited as I was competely bloody terrified.
I'll start with a couple of externals, taken as the sun was coming up at the end of the explore.
Front of the building
The spectacular view from the front overlooking the Thames
Ok, now it's time to get spooked ladies and gents. Let's go back a little in time to the start of the explore. It was the dead of night as I thought stealth would be my best bet to guarantee entry. The original plan was to gain entry and then wait for the sun to rise. Initially I scouted around outside and found much to my surprise, what appeared to be a light on in one of the lower rooms. Possibly a workmans light? I couldn't really be sure. After entering the rear foyer of the building I stood around for a bit not really doing much except looking east for the upcoming sunrise while puffing on my vapourizer. This was short lived though as all the liquid was soon gone leaving me twiddling my thumbs and cursing my forward planning skills. Always bring extra liquid people (or better still, top it up beforehand)!
Ahead of me was a large menacing looking doorway which looked on into nothing but blackness. I'm not ashamed to say that I scare very easily, however my curiosity eventually got the better of me. With much trepidation, I advanced into the dark unknown...
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Possibly my favourite photo from the trip. I find it absolutely terrifying.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Moving on down to the ground floor.
12
13
14
15
15 - this is the room from where the light was emitting. It was actually coming from a floodlight positioned on another building and shining into the room through a window behind me.
16
17
18 - Chocolate and diet coke. The cornerstone of every workman's breakfast.
19
After taking that last photo, I continued on towards the front lobby. I was nearly there when I heared a very troubling sound Which I think I can accurately describe as a cross between some sort of canine and a possessed pigeon. Completely spooked I froze for a while and then decided that perhaps I shouldn't push my luck. After all, things had been going rather well for my return to Urbex'ing.
I turned around and left as quickly and quietly as I could, with very few regrets. As I left the property and made my way back to the front to take a couple of externals, a security van passed by. The driver briefly glared at me but that was it.
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