Crookham Court Manor/School - November 2013 - Pic Heavy

Mockingbird has another report!

3AM was the time myself and my cousin arrived at Crookham Court Manor, stayed up all night quick stop into Tesco before we arrived, basically to fill ourselves up with goodies, hoping that today was not going to be a day of fails. We had visited Crookham 2 months ago, same plan of action, yet we failed.
I recently spoke to UrbanX about the anticipation of entering a site, an the adrenaline just pumps you up with a mixture of emotions. So standing in the woods in utter darkness, the anticipation was killing us we stood silently staring ahead, Crookham manor not visible at all in front of us, dying to know if today was the day was getting to us both, it began to rain heavy and sure enough our ears became sharper so did our eyes, rabbits darted around us the odd twig breaking and rustling we pinpointed instantly...The wait was killing us.

Our eyes slowly adjusted and we could not wait any longer, we approached Crookham and within seconds found our way inside, standing inside with the rain plummeting down outside, the drips from the rain echoing around the halls and rooms, noises upstairs and a few taps against the windows we stood waiting and listening, dont ask me why we wanted to take in all we could, once we was inside we began to walk our footsteps echoing louder than the rain, we explored Crookham Court Manor...

Some history below

Crookham Court stands on the former site of Crookham manor house, built around the start of 14th century and destroyed in 1543, and subsequently demolished around 1850. The construction of the current building started around this time and continued in two more phases over the next fifty years.
It served several purposes,one as a manor house then a junior school and then school for the children of the Military serving at Greenham Common. It was abandoned for some time after the US Air Force left the area and purchased in 1961 when it was used as a boarding school until 1990.In 1988 there was a well-publicised case of child abuse by several members of staff which was covered on Esther Rantzen’s show That’s Life. This had apparently been going on for thirty years but it was only when the headmaster Mr. Gold joined the school in 1987 that it was discovered and reported. Three were convicted, including the principal who was the owner of the building. Over twenty years later the teacher who had been set free was also convicted when another victim came forward; he has tried appealing,but it has since been turned down

Enjoy everyone


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Now who is pushing me home!


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Spent a good 4 hours inside here, an despite whats happened here, its a rather awesome explore and rather nice building, shame about the state its getting in though and the pointless yellow scribbles on the floor, which I didnt notice till looking back over 400 photos, yeah I took loads.

Thanks for looking everyone appreciate it

Great report again. Cheers

That's an amazing report! What a beautiful building with sadness just oozing out of the walls.

Fantastic report and pics!
Thanks for sharing..

Seems to be surviving quite well! ace photos.

@ Mockingbird I like your photos but they do not look like they were taken at 3am ?, or anm I missing something?. Did you hang around till daylight ?. Must have been spooky in there in pitch darkness !

we arrived at 3AM and waited around outside and inside, wasnt until (see the mirror picture) I started taking photos, also some photos where shot with a flash, which you should be able to tell was there for 4 odd hours, so had time to kill, not spooky saw a woman walking her two dogs when we arrived we must of scared her though when we turned headlights on.

Cheers for the comments everyone, always a pleasure to read through them

Wow, its amazing how quickly this one is going down hill. A few months ago I think it could have easily been saved. Now things are looking a bit bleak. I actually prefer it like this

I agree Zombizza, I much prefer it decaying and tonnes of leakages, yet its slowly rotting the building which is a shame, I dont really fancy pristine condition empty homes/whatever, but I do love some natural decay

Definitely starting to look a bit shabby in there, but good to see it's still open, despite the post a few days ago suggesting the owner might be trying to lock it down. One of my favourite explores, though I didn't make it last 4 hours!

LittleOz - Well we had too you see it was dark haha! I like the state its in though, minus the fact its really soggy everywhere...
I think also some petition is going on with the place to "save it" im mixed on this view, considering what happened here.

Nicely done mate
good write up too
its a shame its going downhill, but it does become more interesting as it decays

I agree wombat, the more it decays the more vibe it gives

Cheers!

Thanks, it's nice to see the bits we missed

Great report!!! Awesome "little" place...
Although... I would need double the time, I would loose myself going through all the books

Até já!!!

Wow! Great stuff!

Thanks everyone! really do appreciate all the feedback, no matter how big or little, glad people like my reports

Awsome photos and report Mockingbird do you know the building is listed because so many get knocked down for the sake of new builds.

Liking this a lot! Excellent shots. That galleried stair landing is like an up-scaled Bessingham Manor!

Remember taking about this! Absolutely stunning pics dude! Just awesome.
Fave has to be the sofa and the books! Looks like my house!
Cheers for sharing mate, ace report!