Whittingham - July 09

There's something about Whittingham.

Built in 4 sections and opened in 1873, from bricks made on site, Whittingham was once the largest asylum in Europe, until Rainhill succeeded it upon completion of it's 1887 Annexe.

Whittingham was designed by a Henry Littler of Manchester, and was his only aslyum. This explains the somewhat creative design, a move away from the corridor buildings popular in the early part of the 19th century.


I'd been to Whittingham in December '07, and had been itching to get back there. So I made plans to and visited Deva and Denbigh in the same weekend.



Whitt is a mix of the old and new. Some wards look like they've been empty for years, others just need a clean up and they'd be good to go.

Great stuff Ali,wouldnt mind seeing this one..must have escaped my radar.The second from last shot is a beaut.

Roadtrip it?

It's a fair trek from our neck of the woods, but I think it's worth it.

Nice shots bud, has that class till been nicked from Lawns

Winchester said:

Roadtrip it?

It's a fair trek from our neck of the woods, but I think it's worth it.

Click to expand...

Good idea..I may do it in november..my better arf is away for a week.St Marys as well maybe.

Nice pics, I must get to this one myself.

Winchester said:

So I made plans to and visited Deva and Denbigh in the same weekend.

Click to expand...

Is there much of Deva left, as I had heard there has been some recent demo work.

Whittingham Book

Finally a book has come out about this asylum.

"The History of the Whittingham Hospital Railway 1884-1957" Cost £12 + £1.50 postage

The book, printed on glossy paper is A4 size and has 100 pages inc covers

104 photographs

7 Ordnance Survey maps of which the centre one is a double page spread of the asylum estate.

With 23,000 words or 11,500 words per mile.

Bridges the chasm between mental illness and industrial railways!

Cover can be seen on the site www.whittinghamhospital.co.uk under "News"

Contact 01254 830754

Is this a book about the Hospital or the Railway?

Hellingly has a book about the railway, but not the hospital...