Denbigh, The Abandoned Insane Asylum In Wales
When it comes to abandoned asylums with devastating histories, Wales' Denbigh Insane Asylum is in a class of its own.
The facility was built between 1844 and 1848 and is located in North Wales, where it was supposed to serve as a treatment facility for about 200 Welsh-born patients. But like many asylums built during this period, the hospital was expanded to accommodate spillover from other hospitals. At its peak, Denbigh housed as many as 1,500 patients.
Patients at Denbigh were infamously subjected to prefrontal lobotomies. More than 20 patients were selected for lobotomies between 1942 and 1944, and one patient even died from the procedure.
Patients that were considered violent were also allegedly put in cages. In 1960, the asylum's notorious reputation led to its foreclosure on the orders of British Member of Parliament, Enoch Powell. But the hospital continued trudging along until it was shut down for good in 1995.
The now-abandoned asylum is a popular site for thrill-seekers and photographers. Mathew Growcoot, a photographer who took a number of portraits inside of the defunct hospital, has even asserted that the facility is actually haunted.
"It was by far the creepiest place I have ever been into," he said. "There were so many strange noises emanating from the buildings that I really didn't want to wander too far from my companion. At one point we both heard what sounded like a groan and just stopped and stared at each other. I don't believe in ghosts but I didn't want to hang around."
Fortunately, for those too terrified to venture to the abandoned facility themselves, there are plenty of photographs from the likes of brave souls like Growcoot in the gallery above.
