Shadow Dragon

Whitchurch Hospital

May 2022 | Wales | Extant

Cardiff’s abandoned asylum…

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Name	WHITCHURCH HOSPITAL
Previous Name(s)	CARDIFF LUNATIC ASYLUM, CARDIFF CITY MENTAL HOSPITAL, WELSH METROPOLITAN WAR HOSPITAL
Architect	OATLEY & SKINNER OF BRISTOL
Layout	COMPACT ARROW
Opened	1908
Closed	2016

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HISTORY: Whitchurch Hospital was built between 1902 and 1908 – the official opening date was the 15th of April 1908. It was designed by architects Oatley and Skinner of Bristol, and was envisaged to accommodate the most modern methods of treatment in the early 1900s. This guided by its first medical director, Dr Edwin Goodall, who was a pioneering psychiatrist and had trained alongside Dr Alois Alzheimer. One of his first acts was to drop the word ‘asylum’ in the building’s original title (Cardiff Lunatic Asylum) and rename it the ‘Cardiff City Mental Hospital’. Goodall became a national figure in UK psychiatry. He established a very strong research team and also initiated the training and practice of mental health nursing at Whitchurch, placing the hospital in the forefront of mental health care practice. The hospital was handed over to the military during WWI between 1914 and 1919 and was known as the “Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital” and pioneering treatments for soldiers with shellshock/post traumatic stress disorder were developed. The hospital was returned to mental health use in 1919 but during WWII it was again requisitioned by the War Office to be used this time as the “Whitchurch Emergency Hospital”. After the war, the hospital was taken over by the newly formed NHS in 1948. The hospital declined steadily after the “Care in the Community” act was passed before finally closing in April of 2016, almost exactly 108 years after it opened. The buildings have sat derelict since, at the mercy of vandals and metal thieves.

The hospital’s buildings were amongst most modern of their period, having provision for latest treatment methods. The buildings comprised of the following: many wards, a large recreation hall, bakery, kitchen, boiler house and its own fire station. Perhaps the most prominent section of the hospital is its water tower whose tower was also designed to accommodate the chimney of the boiler house.

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THE EXPLORES: In May of 2022, myself and two friends rocked up at the hospital not quite knowing what to expect – a tall palisade surrounds the whole place, which is inhabited by security guards and dogs. We knew this wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but nevertheless we readied ourselves. We set off from the car and walked around the perimeter, eyeballing security guards, CCTV cameras, security dog vans and security dogs. What a lovely welcome party… we had to hope they wouldn’t see us! We found an access point into the site and then I began scouting for an entry. I found one and went in ahead to find a means of helping my two friends in. Within a short while, we were all inside. We began setting up our tripods and cameras and then began the explore. We were there for a good six hours or so, but even that was not enough. I would love to go back another time and spend more time there.

I returned to Whitchurch Hospital in January of 2026, on a very frosty morning. The temperature was around -3C and you could feel it! I accessed the hospital at sunrise and spent about seven hours inside it, slowly making my way around the entirety of it. I did not climb the water tower, however, as I was alone. But I covered the rest of the site. Do enjoy the photos. I have retained the photos from the top of the tower – these are dated May 2022. Some external shots are also retained from my 2022 set – these are evident thanks to all the greenery!