Whitecroft 

 

Architect BS Jacobs and completion features GT Hine 

Opened 1896

Patients 300

Closed 1992

Other Most of the bricks used to build the Asylum were made on site

A Nurses block was opened in the 1930's

The water tanks within the clock tower burst in the mid 1980's flooding the administration building. The tower has since had the tanks removed and a new steel staircase replaced the original.

Famous patients included the WWI flying ace Otto Siefert who died there 01 October 1915 and the surrealist poet David Gasgoyne who was a patient there in the 1960's and apparently even met his wife there

On a cold and somewhat damp January morning  beckoned a long planned trip to the Isle of Wight. As well as a few other sites my main objective was to see the long closed asylum which is located in a rural part of the island.

Most asylums on the mainland are fenced and boarded this one probably due to its location was not. It must have been one of the easiest entrys into the surrounding land I have ever had we literally almost followed a couple their child up the drive!

Not as simple though was access to the buildings it seemed like all previous vandalism had been boarded. But luckily upon looking a little harder it proved to be quite easy!

Inside the main building the first thing that was noticed was the loud buzzing from an electrical cupboard, it seem that the electric to most parts of the building was either still on or recently disconnected.

Finding the Main Hall was relatively easy and once inside we noticed that the stage had been boarded off from the Hall, maybe to make 2 areas for patients?

The wards to the left of the Main Hall seemed to have been recently remodeled before the asylum closed and I believe were mostly used for office and administration use. Former seclusion's had been turned into store cupboards and offices. A picturesque trial of ivy was trailing down one of the corridors which made for a strange sight.

To the right of the Main Hall the ward seemed to have been left as near to original as I think I have ever seen. Doors to seclusion's were dull browns and greys and handles were on the outside only, giving you a real sense of how things might have been. The bathroom block was bare tile and painted brick and felt really gloomy.

In a separate building was the laundry which closed after the asylum most of the equipment was still in situ and this included a huge steamer press. Evidence of the people that used to work here was all around there was even a picture of a puppy pasted onto one of the large dryers! This asylum is home to an intact an working laundry weighing scale.

Whitecroft Asylum Tour Gallery