“Rotten floors, collapsed roofs and asbestos are just some of the hazards they might encounter, according to English Partnerships, the Government agency responsible for it.

Yes, English Heritage ARE responsible for the rotton floors and collapsed roofs, while they let the sites fall down and they then sell to developers, that is whats really offensive”

“Very well said, 99% of the population walk past sites of interest and historical importance that are left to rot in the elements.
We record these sites before they are lost. Many sites are over 200 years old and deserve not to be ignored.

It's YOUR community, YOU need to take an interest in its past and features or the community will loose its roots

Victorian history is within a few feet, forgotted archives, caves, tunnels, etc which many people died in the making are ignored for a games console society.
Get your 5 a day, eat healthy, get some exercise, if its boring then get your exercise taking in some forgotten history, anyone can be in the 99%, why not join the interesting 1% Club”

“You will hear a lot about Urban explorers being Demonised in the press. We visit and document sites that the world has forgotten about, we don't break in, we don't vandalise and light fires. We are armed with a camera and leave nothing but footprints.

The uk is absolutely littered with forgotten sites of importance, we have Mental hospitals where people were born, lived and died inside the walls. People were sent there for having kids at a young age or while unmarried. Many cremated and buried on site with no record they existed

People were operated and experimented upon singe 1780 etc. All those lives affected and yet we all walk past them daily not noticing they are there let alone hearing the story the site tells.

The company English Heritage on the other hand, buy these places of importance, keep you from visiting them and learning, instead they let the sites fall apart with no dignity, then when the site is a complete shambles they sell the site to a developer for shoebox flats.

Every few miles we have Royal Observer Corps bunkers that served the purpose of looking out for incoming bombers and later looking for Nuclear Missiles to give us the early warning. How many of these have you seen, they are in towns, fields, woodlands. We will all have passed within half a mile of one at some point, people don't look because they don't know, we search, enter and document, I know ex civil servants that worked in these secret areas and still can't talk about it, and they have thanked us for the photos.

How many of us wouldn't be here today if our grandparents etc weren't safe in deep shelters in the war, we don't think or care about about them yet they have earned our respect.

All these sites have a personality, a smell (some may know it well from caves, shelters, old hospitals) they have a history and a story to tell. I would suggest to anyone that they get out there and take an interest for once.
You have nothing to loose and everything to gain for the cost of a little interest.

They call us terrorists and irresponsible, but those who don't know always have an opinion”

“Maybe a documentary maker would be interested.? Panorama covered Seroxat many a time, which has made people sit up and look at anti-depressants.

Surely people who are in these places long term could be re-assessed on a monthly basis?

Having had personal experience of depression and post natal depression 3 times I know how a person's personality can change even in a week and their situation improve.”

“I'm glad people are bringing to light just what might have gone on in there. How many people were treated like "lunatics" and lives wasted due to treatable depression and possibly post natal depression or illnesses we know about nowadays, like epilepsy. Some of those poor people could have led lives outside with medication and had families of their own instead of being treated like a problem.

How many private documents are still laying around? I've seen the medical equipment and desks etc on the footage. Why weren't the medical notes removed and securely stored?

Or were they too hastily removed and some just dropped?

There must be ex patients or relatives wondering what really went on there.”

“I am proud to be counted amongst the urban explorers.
I have visited Cane Hill a number of times and the whole situation saddens me.
It's not only because of the beauty and quality of the buildings that are being destroyed that I am unhappy about the demolition. I believe that English Partnerships are missing a valuable opportunity to create something really special at Cane Hill.
We are always being told that we should try to live in a systainable manner, as much by the Government as much as any of the "Green Groups"
We are having eco-towns forced upon us which are in fact anything but eco- friendly. We are also told that it will be necessary to build on green belt land if we wish to alleviate the lack of affordable housing.
Whilst we know that it is normally very difficult to successfully retro fit older housing with green technology, the same could not be said about Cane Hill, or for that matter many of the other asylum sites that have been scandalously left to decay "beyond repair" by the NHS and Government.
The buildings are light and airy with large windows, high ceilings and a beautiful position. (The Victorians believed that people's mental health was significantly affected by their surroundings..... No really?)
The buildings are also serviced by a centralised boiler system, perfect for Combined Heat and Power (CHP), a system whereby electricity is generated locally and heat which is normally wasted used at the same site.
In this case, Anaerobic Digestion (AD) could provide a significant amount of power just by processing food waste, green waste, and even sewage generated on site in a pollution free, disease free, and emission free truly sustainable manner.
There are acres of slate roofing, perfect for solar collection, and there are plenty of suitable sites for small scale wind turbines on the campus.
The buildings would need gutting out before conversion anyway, so would this not be a suitable time for the installation of modern insulation?
It's my belief that Cane Hill is being demolished quickly to prevent the scandal of 17 years wasted opportunity (and presumably huge amounts of cash!) from emerging.
Incidentally, has anyone stopped to wonder why our prisons are overflowing with prisoners, a frightening number of whom are suffering mental illness? Could it be anything to do with the closing of the asylum system and "Care in the community"?”

“You refer to me as an urban explorer, I would class myself as an historian. The video you have linked to ( Goodbye Cane Hill Asylum) Is an historical record of our past.

The asylums were dotted all over the country housing not only people with psychiatric problems but others that were incarcerated purely because the morals of the day deemed them undesirable.

In twenty years time the footage/images myself and other have collected will become historical archives of a forgotten era.

As time progresses more and more tales/ stories from these institutions will surface.

Have a look at www.highroydshospital.co.uk to see a comprehensive historical documentation of a former lunatic asylum I have created with staff/ patient accounts alongside archive images. This website has already been adopted by various universities as a historical resource.

I am sure English partnerships would love to remove Cane Hill and replace it with housing, Its more than likely to generate tens of millions pounds in profit.

Cane Hill is a fabulous structure built at a time when craftmanship and attention to detail was paramount. In its heyday it would have been the major employer in Coulsdon.

Developers buy up old asylums and convert or demolish them for profit its all about money. They know they have bought an asylum at usually knock down money yet try to hide its past and remove a very important aspect of our past.”

“The security in Cane Hill is excellent although they can't be around the large site at one time. There are private security guards as well as the guards from the demolition company who patrol the site 24 hours a day.
I disapprove of the vandalism caused at Cane Hill and with the school children now on holidays its like a magnetic which does attract problems.
But I can also understand why some people are interested in getting that last glimpse or photo of a once famous and beautiful building, these people are not the vandals.
In a few years time powers to be will realise we need hospitals like Cane Hill, Nethern, Warlingham or Caterham to accommodate people with disorders, as our hospitals will not be able to cope.
I've lived opposite Cane Hill for 30 years and have seen many changes, although opposed to MASS building understand properties are required. Lets hope they make affordable housing for our younger people who need to get on the property ladder.
I object to properties on the whole of the site, and would welcome part of the green belt land to remain for people to enjoy, many people walk through here to the train station, as well as the horses from the stables within Cane Hill, even just walking and enjoying countryside, albeit in the hart of a built up area.”