Leybourne Grange Hospital – Feb 2010

Site Name:
Leybourne Grange Hospital

Location:
Near Maidstone

Status:
Disused and trashed

Visted with:
Fortknox0 and my misses

Equipment used:
Nikon D90 w/18-105 VR lens, 3D maggy.

Date:
Feb 2010

History:
Located beside the M20 near Maidstone, sits a large 270 acre plot of land, very well hidden by trees. The trees are said to have been used to oxygenate the air making a better environment for the patients of Leybourne Grange Hospital. The hospital which once accommodated for a huge 1200 patients is now disused and left to decay. Some parts of the hospital have been demolished since it shut in 1996. The hospital had opened in 1936 and was used for sixty years. Also located on the site is a beautiful manor house. The hospital was built as a colony for mental defective persons by Kent county council utilising an existing estate and the manor house. In 1948 the National Health Service took ownership of Leybourne grange and it became known as a subnormality hospital for the mental and handicap. The site now sits dead and lifeless. The grounds are beautiful and would make a great national park but instead there is planning permission to build 700 new houses and convert the manor house. Some of the buildings had been demolished on this visit and all had been pretty stripped but there is still around 6 buildings standing, the main two being the manor house and the nursing block. There is also a very impressive clock tower.

Report:
This was an interesting one! as a spare of the moment explore after seeing the 1st bit of nice weather this year i gave Fortknox0 a shout and off we went.
After parking nearby we followed a couple of fields and walked straight into the grounds! upon entering the 1st building we bumped into a young girl in a wedding dress and a suitcase full of props! turns out her friend is a photographer! believe it or not, they were more shocked to see us and i aint the one in a wedding dress lol.
We spent a good few hours there till it began to get dark! Didnt see security once and had a laid back explore of the grounds and remaining buildings!

Pictures:
Various pictures taken from the nursing block and the manor house

went there friday,its pretty knackered,couldnt get into the manor house as there was a demolition company covering all the groung floor doors & windows in corrugated steel sheets,also they politely told us to fuck off