The Machinist's House - Surrey - Febuary 2015

Hi all,

So on this sunny Sunday lunchtime I finally got a chance to visit this place, somewhere I've been meaning to go to for a while. It's been doing the rounds on the various Urbex forums, so I thought I'd go visit before it got too wrecked. I understand there was a lot more things inside, but overtime they have slowly been stolen, which is a real shame considering the history of this little house.

It's pretty small and very run down, but full of history and character. The name 'The machinist's house' was given because of all the sewing machines and printing presses that are about. In the shed outside there is a room with two large mechanical printing presses, as well as couple smaller ones inside. The upper floor has a few interesting rooms too.

From the front it doesn't look like much, almost looks like a hoarders house.
It's set by the road meaning getting in without being spotted is hard, however access is completely open round the back.

We also went to Federal Mogul Camshafts after, but I'll post that on a separate report.


















PS2 Controller?



It was a nice litte...

That equipment is amazing. I hope it finds its way to a tech museum or something. Cheers pal

You got some good shots of the printers. Where in Surrey are you? I can't PM anyone yet!!

I'm Caterham/Redhill way, this place was a good 30 minutes away though.

Amazed at how much has moved around, when I 1st got there so much of this was hidden away and yeah, loads has been robbed as well....nice pics and a good angle on TV place

Great stuff there matey

Great photos.

Exceptional Shots! done very well!! Keep meaning to get here. thanks for sharing

Megaman said:

That equipment is amazing. I hope it finds its way to a tech museum or something. Cheers pal

Click to expand...

There is not much chance of that - as this superbly photographed report clearly illustrates, the printing equipment is now nothing more than rusty scrap. It is also doubtful that the equipment was worth much more when the last legitimate owner obtained it, the secondhand printing equipment market was awash with stuff like this when these were put out to grass. Offer the printshop owner a premium on the scrap value, and in those days he would have snapped your hand off. The nice bits here were the wooden cabinets of type, in various unusual fonts (now just scattered around), and some of the old printing journals and papers.

For years I have restored and rebound books - using letter type such as the above in a hand frame, to emboss the title etc on the book's spine using gold leaf or coloured foils. Keeping well in with the local printer was paramount, especially when unusual fonts or decorations were required.

Wow what a fantastic site. Loving all of your photos, sp[ot on!
Thanks for sharing