Whittingham Hospital inside and out

18th December 2007

Whittingham hospital is truly my favourite asylum, I have visited through every season and everytime i find it astonishing and beautiful, although now it is very derelict with roofs fallen in and countless amounts of vandalism and theft it still remains an awesome site.
Whittingham, formally known as the fourth County Lunatic Asylum, was opened in 1869 and closed in the mid 1990's various parts of the hospital have now been demolished and what remains lies awaiting the bulldozers. In the early 2000's I was fortunate enough to see the magnificent main hall in its former working glory hung with the christmas decorations which now still hang a sad reminder of past times. Whittingham was the centre of controversy when in the late 1960's it came to light that there had been many complaints of patient abuse, this resulted in the Whittingham Enquiry with a thorough investigation of the allegations of mistreatment being undertaken. Resluting changes in the mental health act meant that patient numbers were on the recline and eventually Whittingham once one of the largest in Europe closed her doors for good.
Now awaiting much more demolition with only it seems a miniscule amount of the original buildings being saved for conversion. Whittingham is a sad yet beautiful and tranquil place which i will be sad to see go.