I often what ever happened to these poor souls. I met a woman who was there forever, she was very wealthy from inheritance but was insane, never to enjoy her money, I saw all types of what we called the mentally insane, something i will never forget, we started at the worst, then worked our way up to the rehab area, supposedly, as you went thru rehab stages, you eventually ended up in the solo living area, on your way to being released into the public. Our class of about 15, went thru the entire place, starting with the jailed violent patients, we walked thru their cell area, they were locked up and kept yelling at us as we walked thru, we went to another building where we saw people milling around, talking to themselves, people were staring for hours without moving, women were just sitting there staring, some had had their periods, and blood was all over their dresses, we went into the crib room, where there were adults in their 60's, about 4' tall and in diapers and in cribs, I saw children with heads twice the size as ours in cribs, they couldn't sit up, they were called crib cases, i saw the people who were born with no limbs, people who had extra limbs, every kind of mutant you could imagine in your wildest dream, or nightmare. In 1964, I went to Ridge Home on a field trip, I saw the things that are written about in the stories that I've been reading. Walls were covered with graffiti tags and asbestos was leaking from torn steam pipes. Having been abruptly abandoned due to funding cuts the building was still filled with beds, equipment, and toys in the years following its closure. This 300-acre Grade II listed site dominates the surrounding landscape with its 130-ft tall clock tower.

High Royds Asylum, Menston, West Yorkshire Opened in 1888 as the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, the building was designed by J. At least one member of the staff was sent to prison after being convicted of abusing multiple patients and bragging about it to friends.Ī 1988 newspaper article reports constant breaks-ins by thrill-seeking teenagers and homeless people looking to get warm. NIA JONES reveals five of Britain’s most sinister abandoned mental hospitals.In the 1980s there were reports of residents being neglected due to under staffing and lack of funding for proper staff training.Fire safety was also deemed inadequate as the buildings were lacking both fire escapes and viable exit paths in case of emergency.In the 1970s parts of the campus were ordered closed, because of cracks in the walls and foundation caused shifting ground.He blamed poor testing practices and the patient's youth when admitted for the oversight.

In the 1950s one newspaper article quoted an administrator who said that many of the Home's adult patients were far too mentally competent to be in the home, but were there because their families had abandoned them.In the 1940s forced sterilization was practiced on a regular basis.Article after article outlined the problems Ridge Home had over the decades it was open.

Abandoned asylum