Colored Curves

Marvelous shot!

I love this shot, i like the curves windows and the stained glass. A touch of beauty amongst the decay

It is most definately beautiful. I also have a love for exploring abandoned buildings.

However, I must ask - do you feel that any of the places you visit are haunted?

i must agree with motts on this one. i havent been to as many places as he has been but ive been to my fare share of dead buildings and such. i do belive in the paranormal but have never heard or seen anything that would lead me to belive that any of the places ive visited to be huanted... ive also been to these places during the day and at night and still nothing that couldent be explained with a little investigation

if you think about it, why would you want to spend eternity haunting a place you didnt like to stay at to begin with ?

be that as it may, I still wouln't want to spend a night in ..let's say the basement at northampton. I have been in a few of these places,never seen or heard anything"supernatural"

Personally.... I have never been able to explore a place with such a brutal history as an abandoned mental institution- since there dont seem to be many which I know of in the UK.

Yet, in some places... such as old castles and old homes- i almost feel the walls and foundations themselves reflect past lives and emotions of people who have stayed there.
I once took a stroll through an old farmhouse.. where for a moment- I had the uncomfortable feeling I was being watched, and for a moment my girlfriend thought she saw a young girl sitting in a corner.

We decided to leave and whether i could call this experience "supernatural", Im not sure- but I wont be forgetting that intense, dark aura we both felt that night any time soon.

such vivid and striking colors, the colored window tops look out of place, yet somehow fit in... I know that doesnt ,make sense........

Thank you very much

What kind of camera/flash/filters or whatever do you use? A lot of these are amazing.

When you see all the destruction either by time or vandals , its almost as if the patients of these places are here slowly destroying the hell that they must have endured

Did you ever take into consideration that not everyone has the ability to sense the paranormal? I to believe that it is there though i have never seen or heard anything... i have had the feeling of a presence though. But i do know of people who claim they have seen and heard. They tell me that from their own experience they can tell if someone else has as well. My boyfriend happens to be one of these people, but to confirm your thoughts Motts... he didn't get anything from Pennhurst.

Motts, thank you so much for that link about UK asylums. I share Chocobo's gratitude. In my experience, and as I've said before, anything that becomes obsolete or surplus to requirements here tends to be torn down long before it has chance to decay and becomes interesting, due to ridiculous land values and Government policy which insists on the re-use of any piece of 'brown-field' land for hundreds of overpriced shoe-box apartments. I had no idea that any of this stuff had survived... my Mom told me childhood stories of poking around a vast abandoned institution near Warrington, but that has long gone and only the water tower remains.

I've become fascinated by the idea of exploring derelict asylums, since ours were once possibly even more ornate, more impressive, and more brutal than those in the US, particularly during the early 20th century. The stories are heartbreaking - of girls committed to these places for the 'crime' of falling pregnant, or suffering from autism, epilepsy or any number of now-managable conditions. It was very easy to end up in the 'looney bin' and never see the light of day again. Even though most of them are down South, far away from my city, I'm encouraged by their mere existence and may even be tempted to pay a visit.. My interest in UE was sparked by a 'mission' (with a friend) to the abandoned BBC TV headquarters in Leeds city centre before that too was reduced to rubble. We had an amazing time snooping around recently vacated newsrooms and TV / radio studios and I hope t enjoy many more such experiences. Thanks a million for this site, and for helping fire my interest and stimulate my imagination...

Those random stain glass windows almost seem like something installed just to appease the 'good' patients.

Spok, when originally designed, these places weren't designed to be scary or to punish those within their walls. The Victorians were comitted to rehabilitation and believed that removing the mentally disturbed from the vast overcrowded cities of the era and allowing them to recuperate in attractive buildings in the countryside was the most effective means of accomplishing this. Hence the sprawling, wooded grounds and incredible architecture of the 19th and early 20th century buildings.

Psychiatry was in its infancy and the emphasis was very much on 'reform' - contrast any Kirkbride with a prison of the same era, the architecture of which undeniably suggests punishment and brutality (and deterrence!) It was only later that the asylums became overcrowded through lack of funds and changing attitudes towards the mentally ill.

But bear in mind these places were built not to punish but with the intention of helping people get better - based on the limited knowledge of the time. Keep that in mind and suddenly beautiful Gothic spires and stained glass windows don't look at all out of place.

I relatively little of asylums and institutional care methods (perhaps Lynne or Anna can fill in the gaps!) but the Victorian and Edwardian periods are something of an interest of mine.

Freakin' gorgeous.....

On the subjects of ghosts you never know where they're going to turn up. I saw a ghost in the least likely place once (in broad daylight in a new building), so I suppose anything is possible.

I think when something traumatic happends anywhere or anytime it kind of leaves a "stain" if you will. I hope you understand. say if something horrible happends in a house. like a dorm of a college girl who was murdered in her bed by Ted Bundy. Im not saying the "spirit" haunts the place. but It could leave a stain. this could be bigger then what Im trying to explain. think about it. Could it be possible for something to stain time? Something so horrible that it just constantly stays with the place it happened in? like the violant ward... Does it make sense?

It's the souls that are staind.

I'de say that I have a certain connection with the paranormal. I mean its so hard for some people to digest such an idea. I even sometimes feel like a phony when I say such things. But whenever I walk into a house, I "feel" its history. If a house is bran new, I feel very safe, but when the house has been inhabited by others in the past, i can sense things. Even if no one died in the house or residence, or whatever it may be, it carries a history because there were people who lived there..u know what im saying? So I totally agree with u theory S3an..there are "stains"

This is my favorite shot by far.

I ADORE this one! The curve of the path... the colors of the glasses...

MAYBE THIS WALK WAY TOOK THEM TO A RELIGIIOUS PART OF THEBLDG. OR MAYBE IT WAS SOME TYPE OF WORSHIP PLACE. OR MAYBE THE GLASS WAS THERE TO JUST FILL SOME HOLES??????

Speaking of filling some holes, there's a pie-hole I wouldn't mind being filled right about now . . . . .

I've got blinding tears running down my cheeks and I'm about to barf up my fries and pepper cheese steak I had for lunch
Holy mother!!.

this must be the private ward

Wow. looks like you could just stand there and the floor would spin. its very neat. like a weird sort of merry go round.

This picture is visually stunning

How stunning

another beautiful shot of those windows

I LOVE those windows.

places dont need to be haunted, imagination will create such terrors that any real presence would be superfluous. I got chased into worcester state with no flashlight and managed through greater fear of pigs than spirits to remain calm

Yaaay! I love the colored ones!

Motts, I don't think I could have said it better. People like comment on here about how the treatment to these ppl was most likely humane, and I imagine a lot of it was, but it seems like a few individuals will not acknowledge that there WAS in fact a large amount of abuse committed in these institutions, and not everyone is SICK to imagine that it happened and feel sorry for these ppl.

MOTTs seems to be a very ''grounded'' man.

This photograph is fantastic. The angle, the colours, the contrast between rot and beauty and the light create such a beautiful piece.

Motts, I'm not sure that you will ever read this but you create some of the most inspiring art that I have ever seen.

It is so sad to think how the mentally ill were treated way back, and how the disabled have come so far thanks to federal and state funding. They have group homes,and day programs where a lot of disabled folks get out into the community,and work jobs. Some have staffing,and some are independent enough to be there themselves. Unfortunately, now through hard times the federal gov. is making all kinds of cuts in programs,and cutting programs by massive amounts,where their actually going to be literally kicking some of these poor souls out of the programs that they fought so long and hard to get. The question is where will they go to live? Let's hope not back to something like this again.

I have looked over this site many times, and this is still one of my absolute favorites shots. Truly incredible and gifted you are.......

back in the old days mental illness or TB sufferers were considered scum of society (of course they are not) but even back in the 1800s there were people fighting for the rights for people who could not fight for themselves.

places were negative things happend the negativity can stay in the air and you can feel it but does not always mean paranormal. but there is credible sightings including the so called ghost filmed on top of cane hill asylum uk on youtube.

Motts, You are amazing! I am still a little young for this stuff and I love to see Urban Explorers online. It makes me feel like I have someone to look up to.

Try camping out in this place overnight maybe your thoughts will change about the paranormal.

Gorgeous!!!!

Again, seeing a curved hallway is a nice change, as there are a lot more straight ones out there. I really like the stained glass panels on the windows above the main ones, the colors are amazing. I don't know if this is the case, but it looks like the inner wall at some point was the outer one & they added onto the place later on making this hallway here.