St Andrews Asylum 2011

St. Andrews Asylum, also known as the Norfolk Lunatic Asylum Annexe is an abandoned former mental hospital east of Norwich, in the borough of Thorpe St Andrew. It was a vast complex arrangement of traditional H-shaped buildings all linked with a straight trunk corridor.

Whilst the main grade II listed Norfolk County Asylum, also known as Southside, has been refurbished into luxury housing, Northside remains derelict. In 2012, two-thirds of the site was cleared, and for reasons yet unknown, the decision was made to leave only the clocktower and two ranges on either side, as well as the former mortuary and pavilion. This remaining section of the building is currently unlisted and has no protection.

Designed by the architects Cornish and Gaymer in 1881, the building was modelled on Metropolitan Asylums Board institutions at Leavesden and Caterham, for "chronic lunatics, imbeciles and idiots". The buildings were to be of "somewhat plain, simple and comparatively cheap construction", later described as "a sort of go-between the Asylum and the Workhouse". Construction began shortly after and the building was laid out in a two-story ‘H’ shape with large and somewhat barn-like male and female wards linked, or rather separated, by an administrative cross-section, behind which lay a single-story complex of kitchens and staff rooms. Built from Norfolk red bricks in Flemish bond, with decorative contrasting white bricks in window headers, it also contains smart dogtooth dentils at the eaves and a slate roof. It is rumoured that St. Andrews was only one of two original asylums that had a curved corridor.

During World War I the hospital was used by the military authorities as a War Hospital. Details of this period in the hospital’s history are to be found in the Annual Reports, 1915-1920. The Asylum became known as the Norfolk Mental Hospital in 1920 and the name was again changed to its present title, St. Andrew’s Hospital, in 1923. In the period between the two wars, the hospital housed more than 1,100 patients. It operated as an NHS hospital, called Northside, until the building was finally made vacant in 2007, when the Norfolk Primary Care Trust, now NHS Norfolk, left for more modern accommodation.
If like me you do like to take your fury friend on explores keep them on their lead! Learnt a lesson the hard way here. Fortunately Yogi was fine and was able to get him out. Could have been alot worse!

Picture 12. I hope Yogi has recovered from his dilemma. Poor thing.

He was fine, thankfully! Sadly he's passed away now. Old age , but he wss a great urbex pug.

Gorgeous, shame what happened to this place

That looked nice back in the day, the bit that is left now is absolutely nackered , I didnt even get my camera out on a recent visit.
Dog pic is great, she seems rather disturbed!

BikinGlynn said:

That looked nice back in the day, the bit that is left now is absolutely nackered , I didnt even get my camera out on a recent visit.
Dog pic is great, she seems rather disturbed!

Click to expand...

He's demonically possessed look at his eyes!

That's nice. Internally it reminds me a bit of Barrow Gurney.

Some good pic's there. I remember being very keen to see this and ended up being a bit disappointed with it. The interior was bland and empty, with no real features of interest. R.I.P. the asylums.