Denbigh Asylum.

Denbigh Asylum was built between 1846 and 1848 from plans drawn up from Thomas Fulljames, the plans for the asylum dated back a few years earlier to 1842 when Joseph Ablett, a local landowner, donated the original 20 acres of land for the hospital complex, The buildings are now surrounded by 126 acres of wooded, landscaped grounds.

Denbigh was the first asylum built in Wales and was constructed due to the lack of unsuitable conditions available for welsh people with mental health problems, before Denbigh was built all mental health patients had to seek treatment in hospitals and asylums in England.

The asylum was built from locally sourced limestone ashlar, with local sandstone dressings and slate roofs. It is listed Grade II* because it is an exceptionally fine and pioneering example of early Victorian asylum architecture.

An extension to the Hospital in 1867 closed the open rear of the U-shaped main building and provided two twin-bayed wards to either side. Further extensions and new building works were carried out between 1903 and 1908. Two large private dwellings near the Hospital were purchased and extended in 1926, and two villas and a new nurses’ home were built in 1934.

Additional ward accommodation was built in 1956, when the Hospital reached its peak capacity of 1,500 patients and there were further additions, links and extensions constructed until the closure announcement in 1987.

Denbigh finally closed in 1995 and all remaining patients transferred to local hospitals with more modern facilities, since then the site has laid derelict and exposed to the forces of nature slowly decaying in to a now dangerous state.

The Prince Of Wales visited in 2004 and placed it on his Phoenix Trust list with plans to hopefully restore the place to its former glory at some point.

Its a crime really that Denbigh has been left to decay in such a way as it is full of character and looks stunning, sadly though inside is another story, the decay is beyond belief, huge sections of floors and roofs have simply rotted straight through, making navigation some what tricky and in parts extremely dangerous.

That said though it is and awesome place and well worth seeing, at one point there must of been 20 explorers scattered all over the asylum with more turning up by the hour including veteran explorers Nurse Payne and Paulo as well as new explorers Beans, Anclove and Dubweiser from Manchester.

And awesome and very popular place.