Cane Hill - the far side of town

Cane Hill Asylum, in Coulsdon, Surrey, has a large reputation ... a reputation for being one of the most impressive and atmospheric Victorian asylums in the UK. Completed in 1882, Cane Hill held around 2000 patients at its peak, including a number of famous ones given its proximity to London. However, given the 1980s move towards care in the community and with all the grand asylums closing, its days were numbered and it finally shut in 1991.

From what sound like halcyon early days of exploring the ever deteriorating site, it more recently got a reputation for being somewhat tougher to explore with a large palisade fence topped with razor wire and well patrolled by guards with dogs.

Then came word that demo was due to start at Cane Hill, and they weren't hanging about! Time to get in ... the day after I shot this shaky footage on my digital camera, the diggers moved in properly, and they've been proceeding at shocking pace ever since with things like the laundry and morgue now gone for ever!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• UE
• UrbEx
• Urban
• Exploration
• Cane
• Hill

[elliotf282]

Did they allow people to go in and look around before?

how did you lot get in?

[RAndyVee]

Nope ... people weren't allowed to go in and look around which is why there was a big fence with razor wire atop and active security. However, fences are made to be climbed ;-).

[RAW555R]

great vid whats the tune that starts at 6:55?

[RAndyVee]

It's a section of a track by the quality English prog rock band Camel. The full title of the song is "Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider" but the bit in the video is the last couple of minutes worth. More typically live the whole thing was called "The White Rider". If you'd like to hear the whole thing and you're a Spotify user, go and listen to Camel's album Mirage where it's listed as "Nimrodel - Medley".

[SaucyBegger25]

cane hill will never truely be gone, thanks to people making these videos and picture videos :) i love it.

[theonlysminor]

Good video and its great you made the video. Loved it from start to finish

[MrCutMeLoose]

This is right by my house!! Mostly gone now though

[nobbythenobbler]

If you think this is a freaky place get this......my father was the fire officer of cane hill and our house adjoined the mortuary. (H Blunden) If you were to knock through from our kitchen you'd be in the body fridges. I used to have nightmares about it as a child. Dreaming that there were bandage wrapped bodies under my bed. This vid brings back memories. claim to fame.my bro and I used to sneak my dads skeleton key and get into the square water tower. we swum in the huge water tank in the top

[hamstercrazy09876]

i wanna go there

[mashamorgan]

It must have been doubly awful for Terry Burns being stuck in here whilst his famous multi millionaire brother was having a great life. Sadly no one ever said life was fair !!

[onepinkrose]

If there's anymore derelict asylums about in Britain, someone should make a low-budget horror movie in one of these places. They freak me right out. If the 'Blair Witch Project' can get arses on seats then anythings possible. Great upload.

[RAndyVee]

@yoyoholck Yep ... Coulsdon is on the outskirts of London. There were sadly far too many people who ended up institutionalized in asylums for patently wrong reasons eg. having children outside of marriage.

Sadly almost all of Cane Hill has been demolished. Just the water tower, chapel & admin remain, & admin was almost destroyed by arsonists just the other week :-(.

[yoyoholck]

@RAndyVee is this in england? i bet you couldnt stop thinking about the wasted lives that got locked and druged in there for years, they just needed help

[JoshuaV69]

go in there at night with just a flash light its way more creepy lol

[DStunn3r]

It's a shame they let them ruin to the point of demolition. It's awesome having a piece of psychotic history around. I walked around in Lakeland Insane Asylum in New Jersey and it's creepy as shit seeing blood stains on the floor in more than one place in the whole main building.