Denbigh Insane Asylum

Now in a state of picturesque decay, Denbigh Asylum (aka North Wales Hospital) was actually abandoned relatively recently, closing its doors in 1995 after 147 years of service.

Constructed between 1844 and 1848, the hospital served as a refuge for Welsh-speaking mental patients. Originally designed to accommodate about 200 patients, it was expanded to alleviate overcrowding in 1899 and eventually was home to as many as 1,500 patients.

When it was founded, many hoped the hospital would be a source of restorative treatment, rather than a costly dumping ground where those suffering from mental illness could be kept away from the rest of society. But as the hospital grew, patient welfare was increasingly set to the side. Tasks around the hospital were done largely by labor from the patients, and treatment consisted largely of sedation and time in Turkish baths.

Plans to close the hospital were put in motion in the late 1980s, and the main unit was shut down in 1995.

The hospital has been vandalized and looted since its closing, and plans had been made to demolish the historic building to make way for 280 new homes and businesses, but these were never completed. In 2008, the buildings were featured in an episode of “Most Haunted” and later the same year a devastating fire broke out, causing more damage to the aging structure. Today, its fate is uncertain.