Hi Guys,
I am a postgraduate at the Ironbridge Institute, and I’m currently writing a thesis on the preservation and presentation of historic asylums. I’m a rookie explorer myself (still at it despite recently meeting a gamekeeper and the business end of a shotgun!), and I think that a significant amount of people’s engagement with historic asylums and hospitals is through Urban Exploration.
There is no real on-site museum of an asylum, and the history of mental healthcare is only looked at in a very limited number of museums, so in many ways urban exploration is the only option. However, I’d like to know what you think of the prospect of an asylum museum in a disused building. Would it lose its appeal to you if it were a managed site? Would you visit anyway? Do you think exploration of other abandoned asylums and hospitals would decline if there were a museum on offer?
I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this, whatever they may be. Any thoughts, comments or opinions on historic asylums and their preservation/ abandonment will be insightful, and I really think that explorers are a group of people who need to feature in this study, and I think that asking around on the forums is the best way to get to as wide a spectrum of explorers as possible.
If you have any questions or anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by PM.
Thanks very much,
Laura
I am a postgraduate at the Ironbridge Institute, and I’m currently writing a thesis on the preservation and presentation of historic asylums. I’m a rookie explorer myself (still at it despite recently meeting a gamekeeper and the business end of a shotgun!), and I think that a significant amount of people’s engagement with historic asylums and hospitals is through Urban Exploration.
There is no real on-site museum of an asylum, and the history of mental healthcare is only looked at in a very limited number of museums, so in many ways urban exploration is the only option. However, I’d like to know what you think of the prospect of an asylum museum in a disused building. Would it lose its appeal to you if it were a managed site? Would you visit anyway? Do you think exploration of other abandoned asylums and hospitals would decline if there were a museum on offer?
I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this, whatever they may be. Any thoughts, comments or opinions on historic asylums and their preservation/ abandonment will be insightful, and I really think that explorers are a group of people who need to feature in this study, and I think that asking around on the forums is the best way to get to as wide a spectrum of explorers as possible.
If you have any questions or anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by PM.
Thanks very much,
Laura