15 February 2023 , 22:43
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These chilling photos reveal the history of an abandoned mental asylum and mortuary known for its treatment of young children using electroconvulsive therapy.
These images, taken of Hellingly Hospital, East Sussex reveals the chilling remains of what life was like in a psychiatric hospital. Opened in 1898, the asylum was built to combat overcrowding in the Sussex County Asylum.
One image, taken inside the hospital's morgue, shows stacks of empty body trays left with the doors ripped off the hinges to reveal the inside.
Hellingly Hospital was known for its use of electroconvulsive therapy, a treatment that sent an electric current to the brain, causing a brief surge of electrical activity within the brain.
The former dining area inside the asylum (mediadrumimages/@chloeurbex)The treatment was aimed to cure mental health problems however was extremely detrimental to the health and could cause mania, catatonic states and many more health problems.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
The hospital was closed in 1994 following the decline of patient numbers. After its closure, the building rapidly decayed, suffering arson and vandalism attacks.
In the mid-2010s, the building began being demolished, making way for new housing.
The infirmary where sick children were treated (NHS)Some of the original buildings still remain, with the Ashen hill secure unit still operating until 2012.
These haunting images were captured by urban explorer and photographer Chloe Urbex (21) in Brighton, UK.
"The building was very dangerous," said Chloe.
A dilapidated hallway (mediadrumimages/@chloeurbex)"We fell through the ground floor on so many occasions so when exploring the upper floors where the wards were we avoided any dodgy-looking floor.
" I was very happy to see inside this building as I was always curious to see what was behind the metal shutters.
The paint peeling in the corridors (mediadrumimages/@chloeurbex)
A bathroom inside the asylum (mediadrumimages/@chloeurbex)"I felt a strong emotion of joy after capturing the mortuary as I didn't really know what to expect as I have only seen one documentation on it from 2014.
"I was expecting it to be all stripped however it was only partially stripped, and the fridges still had the body trays which made it very interesting to us."