It has been
very difficult indeed to find out much about this abandoned
hospital near the village of Saint Symphorien not far from Mons in
southern Belgium, but it has been known in urb-ex circles as 'Forest
View' ever since it first appeared on the
radar. It is quite literally attached to a modern development at the north
end of the site, a development so new it does not even appear on the most
recent Google Earth satellite view taken in 2007. The new building, a
nursing care home for elderly patients in need of full time medical care,
is known as the 'Residence du Bois d'Havre',
which translates literally as the residence of Havre Wood. It opened on
the 5th. October, 2010, and is the largest such facility in the Wallonia
area with 221 beds. It is therefore only natural to assume, especially in
light of the sheer amount of geriatric care equipment we encountered
during our exploration, that the abandoned building was also a care
facility for the elderly; and indeed that is the case.
But it was
not always so.
The first
building on the site, from which the geriatric hospital eventually
evolved, was a sanatorium built in 1957. The geriatric hospital with more
than 180 beds into which it evolved was opened in 1977, the conversion/new
build being financed by CPAS of
Mons. It finally closed
its doors once the new development came on stream.
At some
time there has been an enormous fire on the first floor which has very
badly damaged the ward blocks there and left a visible black wave of smoke along the
corridor walls just above head height. A clock on the wall has stopped at 10.14
and one inevitably wonders if that was the time of the big fire. Subsequent to that
particular
fire moronic elements of society appear to have attempted to set
several more fires on the same floor. I say this because there is no
evidence of the smaller fires having burnt through the partition walls
between rooms as you might expect had the individual fires all been a part
of one whole.
Below is a
selection of the photographs we took in and around
Residence du Bois d'Havregeriatric care hospital in June 2012.
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view any of the photographs in a far bigger size then click on the
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The buildings on the
left are a fairly new hospital built on to the derelict former
hospital to the right. This is therefore quite an active site!
The
approach from the opposite side to the active hospital is very easy.
Once inside
it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the
main reception area.
There
are quite a lot of abandoned beds and miscellaneous "hospitalery"
left behind!
A commode
chair.
The grounds between the
two hospitals go from well manicured to totally overgrown within a
few yards!
It looks
like this was the product of an occupational therapy session with
one of the patients.
One of many identical
abandoned wheelchairs.
I'm not at all sure what
this is!
We got the
feeling that this was a staff locker room.
And
here's another wheelchair!
We turned a dark corner in a near pitch
black corridor and found the mortuary freezers.
Not the nicest place to
pitch up but it's a salutary fact that the chances are most of us
will.
This puts a whole new perspective on the
phrase "terraced accommodation"!
There's not a lot of room
in these "apartments"!
Let's have a
bit of hospital stair porn!
It appears from the wave
of smoke blackening on the walls that this floor was the seat of a
severe fire.
Did this
clock stop during the fire?
Many of the
rooms on this floor have suffered fires which look like they
happened some time later, probably by the actions of vandals. In
this case someone torched a piano which appals me.
Many windows in the
hospital have inevitably been smashed.
Why did this patient leave his slippers
behind?
Some rooms
still have their curtains in place.
One of the
few undamaged ablutions.
We liked this ward which
didn't need much imagination to see in action as it were!
A bit of rampant chavvery
sadly.
This first floor lobby
appears to have been a reception area.
Unused sharps and a log
book.
Yet
another wheelchair.
I suppose I
should call this photo something like "reverse stair porn"!
We have
moved up another floor and this is the central records area complete
with mouldering patient files still in situ.
Doctor!
There's a small wood growing in my stomach!
...and
another in my chest!
Looking across at this
wing of the hospital it appears that many of these particular rooms
were quite swish, even having their own balconies.
Looks like
the Goth kids have been round to play!
The throne!
We are up on the top
level now - how odd to find beds and assorted furniture out here!
I'm not a huge fan of
graf, full stop, but I don't mind proper urban art if it shows
talent. Stencilled urban art I like even less. But this has a
certain something.
I see very little in the
way of talent in producing what amounts to a large poster.
How abstract is this? It
reminds me very much of The Beatles' film "Yellow Submarine"
and the menagerie of the Blue Meanies.
Back on the ground floor
again we explored a wing close to the active site last in case we
were spotted.
We were not prepared for
what we found beyond these classy doors...