Demolition commenced in July 2008, following an unsuccessful attempt to get Cane Hill listed. The Water Tower, Administration block and Chapel were to be retained and eventually restored, although there are no timescales on this at present.
Squibb and Davies won the £7.5 Million contract, and claim the demolition would be completed by December 2009
They started at the rear of the site, demolishing the Mortuary, Laundry and service buildings towards the centre of the site. They followed this up with removing the shorter male wards, then the female. Finally, the larger ward blocks were removed, with Wren/Wesley on the Male side being the final block to go.
Large amounts of items were salvaged, including the mortuary slabs, roof slate and bricks, in addition to various other goods such as vintage telephones, windowframes and non-confidential paperwork
Please see below for images from demolition.
Demolition starts at the rear. The bricks stacked up are from the mortuary
Asbestos clearing trailer
The base of the tower is sealed.
The wards in the centre of the male side come down
Work on the female side advances
The airing court between H and K blocks is cleared
Mapother ward is demolished
The Concrete walkway shows where the corridor was previously
‘A’ Block is separated and prepared for demolition
Wren in July 2009
Admin and the Chapel, August 2009
What is actually left of the building then…its a shame they are demolishing a classic building >:(
dan
29 Oct 09 at 12:56 am
Hi (is it Ali?)
What a fantastic website! Absolutely wonderful. I had the chance to visit West Park Asylum back in November and got to say goodbye to this place as it was only 10 mins away. I have given over a section of the website to West Park and Cane Hill has it’s own page, more as a tribute than anything else because I only got to hear about it after demolition started, which is a bit sad. I would love to put a link to this site from my website on the Cane Hill page, but only on your sayso. Please give me a shout via e-mail and I will pen it in.
Thanks again for a very vivid and sensitive trip to Cane Hill, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
Best Wishes,
Loz aka ghost-of
)
Loz Russell
7 Dec 09 at 7:35 pm
This is awful
I had planned for over a year to go there. I finally get around to it, and i see this.
Richard
27 Oct 10 at 5:51 pm
awesome website to who ever made this is my idol
i love abandoned buildings and i came across cane hill on night on the net best thing i found on the net.
i think they should keep the chapel and admin block adleast turn it into a museum or somthing to symobolise the hospital we had an old hospital here in wellington newzealand and they just wanted it gone. in which i was fuming over so i sujested to the health board they make a memorim wall in the new hospital they so happened to build. so that happened so happy about that. im a ranter lol but all i have to say is awesome kick ass page mate love it lots photos are the bomb
tim schnebele
11 Nov 10 at 10:57 pm
Thanks Tim. Sadly the Admin block was burnt down yesterday, most likely a convenient way to get rid of it so money doesn’t have to be spent to develop it.
Ali
14 Nov 10 at 1:17 pm
Demolition started mid 2008 and by the end of 2009, it was mostly gone. Hopefully this site can show you what it was like.
Ali
14 Nov 10 at 1:17 pm
Hi Ali,
thanks for a great site / info.
I started my training there in June 1985.
I had such a great time there.
Please let me know if any of it is still there.
Can i still visit ?
Regards
Paul
Paul Kaloo
8 May 11 at 1:29 pm
Hi Paul, almost all of the site is demolished now, just the water tower and the chapel remain. The admin block is burnt down and will most likely be demolished. Everything else was bulldozed between 2008 and 2010.
Ali
22 May 11 at 12:04 pm
This is a great website. I have been absolutely fascinated by Cane Hill since I moved to Croydon five years ago.
Has a masterplan been developed for the site following the consultation period back in December 2007?
I was deeply dissappointed to see what’s left of the administration building following the fire in November 2010. I assume that building could be salvaged.
Would it be possible to add a section about the future for the site on the website?
Richard Mullins
25 Jun 11 at 8:20 pm
Hi Richard, thanks for your kind comments.
I’m not aware of any agreed plan but several options have been touted. I’ll do a little more research and see what I can dig out, and then see what I can put online about the future of the site.
Ali
27 Jun 11 at 1:17 pm
Hi Ali,
Happy New Year.
Has anything happened on site recently.
I still feel the need to visit, as a form of closure.
I’ve tried to get onto ; canehill.org.uk but it asks for login details. Any ideas ?
Paul Kaloo
2 Jan 12 at 8:41 pm
Hi Paul, Happy New Year. I’m not aware of any changes to the site since I last visited mid-2011, after the fire in the Admin Block. I don’t know why the website isn’t working, I’ll speak to the hosting company and see.
I’d reccommend visiting the site again – it’s odd as the physical geography is all the same, but the buildings are mostly gone – it’s quite odd walking around the site when everything familiar has gone.
Ali
5 Jan 12 at 11:41 am