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St. Margaret's Hospital, Great Barr

I went in later march no security at hall.

Went on Friday last week, 2 white vans outside the hall.
 
Dave I would love to visit but it has some happy and some very sad memories. After what you have said I don't think I will:(. Jean.
 
Nice picture Jean. My grandma used to live on the Queslet when I was small. She lived in the house next to the garage it was demolished some years ago I think to make the garage bigger:(. I always think it looks strange now like half a house because it was a semi. St Margaret's was at the back of the house. We were always warned not to go into the grounds.:)
 
Dave your photo's are so sad. The damage to the lovely stone carvings and fire damage........crimminal:(:(
 
Wendy I am trying to picture where your nan once lived. We are going that way tomorrow so will have a look for it. Jean.
 
Comming from the Scott Arms just past the shops on the left there is a left turn, straight after there is a garage (if it's still there) the house would be next to the garage. You can't miss it as it looks strange like half a semi. She moved to Waddington Avenue off the Newton Road just past the Scott Arms going the other way.
 
Wendy Pete said if it was opposite Beacon Pet Aquarium they have now built some rather smart flats. They are on a corner. Will take a photo tomorrow as I have to go to that pet shop for my niger feeder. Bye. Jean.
 
There's some old and new pics on this thread of mine-

https://www.midlandsheritage.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366

they are more prior to/ during and then recent after demolition pictures tho... there's also some interesting comparisons if you sift through... also, if anyone has any older pics (ie when it was operational) that they'd be willing to let me use please PM me :)
 
What is the situation re the Hall. I believe it is a historic listed building but the NHS just wanted rid of it so let it deteriorate.
 
leonardjob said:
What is the situation re the Hall. I believe it is a historic listed building but the NHS just wanted rid of it so let it deteriorate.
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There's a bit of controversy surrounding it at the moment... I haven't been there myself, but from what I can understand its been subjected to 'arson' attacks (and is still a shell), some loss adjusters/ insurance type people were asking around and asking for pictures from around April I think it was, as the owners had made an insurance claim...
 
i Was looking through old threads and came upon this one about St Margarets Hospital , whilst i have no photographs ,i do have a story about it . In the early 60s i camped there with scouts from handsworth and patients from the hospital. me and a mate went down by the pool/lake ,where a small steam roller was parked up , we managed to get it started and on the move, but couldnt stop it , yeah you guessed where it ended up, not very good for scouts i know.!!
 
The last time I visited the site - about 8 or 9 months ago, I believe (albeit a vague estimate!?) - the place was a hive of activity. Myself and a friend approached the site roughly from the direction of the old isolation wing, bringing us to the bridge, which was being 'done up' splendidly (if you like brand-spanking-new brick work, of course). We couldn't get too close to the hall because of masses of temporary mesh fencing and the occasional, fleeting view of a workman off in the distance somewhere, but it seemed a lot was being done to the place structurally..... A lot of what looked like new masonry was littering the ground around the place.

Unless the chavs have managed to get in since then - questionable, because there has been a heavy security presence at the hall for a long time prior to work starting on the place - I think word of the arson attacks are hailing back a while. Our last but one visit to the hall was met with a high, mesh compound surrounding the building itself (at a distance of 50 to 100 meters at the bridge end of the property), static security guard in a shed and two vicious rotties!! We had asked the guard if we could view the site a bit better - previous guards at the hospital site had been most accommodating, it has to be said - but he generally told us to 'bog off'.:D

Regards,

Nick
 
My secondary school, Barr Beacon Comprehensive, was a short walk away from home and at the back of the school you could find St. Margarets Hospital. The land was originally Great Barr Park Estate and was home to Great Barr Hall. The Hall and land were purchased for £24,260 and during the years of 1911 to 1930 extensive building work took place. The hall itself was adapted and made into a children’s home for the under fives. Further Children’s Homes were added to the site. During the 1900s adults with learning difficulties were termed as ‘Idiots’ of ‘feeble minded’ and it was in the year 1912 a Committee was set up with the task of providing homes for such people. In 1918 two homes for male mental defectives were built on this site and two for female mental defectives were added to the site in 1921. Further buildings were erected and it was now known as Great Barr Idiot Colony, and then later developed into St Margaret’s Hospital. The hospital became a place of care for those with severe, genetic learning disabilities. The Children’s Homes were now gone and I always remembered the Hospital has been home to many patients who were mentally ill, it was better known to us kids, who knew no better, as the Loony Bin, St Maggies.

In more recent years the Hospital site closed down and was sold to buyers who then became bankrupt thus leaving the site with ‘receivers.’ Plans have been made for new homes to be built in and around the area but after meeting with fierce opposition from locals it now remains in disrepair and still of interest to many today. I am amazed that that St. Margarets still holds the same fear as it did all those years ago. Stories were regularly told of dangerous patients escaping and people been attacked late at night making it an ideal spot for dares to climb over the perimeter fence which could be found at the back of the woods next to the school playing fields. Needless to say no one ever accepted the dare and the area remained as foreboding as ever. My son visits St. Maggies with friends regularly, gaining access from the main road, and just like when we were young, believes all the stories of strange happenings over the years at this dark and sinister looking place. The buildings still stand, empty and crumbling, holding many memories and waiting to be demolished.
 
that bit of writing i did about st margarets is a little out of date now as im sure you are all aware it has now been demolished and built on sad another piece of history gone.
 
I had to laugh at a paranormal related group who were claiming to have carried out an investigation of St Margarets Mental Hospital this Summer!!!

I'm a stickler for research when it comes to paranormal matters - but they must have had a time machine in order to have carried out such a visit!!!:D:D:D

Reading on, I found that they were claiming to have investigated Great Barr Hall itself - something which I found highly unlikely - pondering in their write up as to why the Mental Hospital had been placed in the middle of a new housing estate!?!?:D:D:D:D

Regards,

Nick
www.westmidlandsghostclub.com
 
i would have loved to have been part of that investigation as not everyone realises what history our st.maggies has. Coming from a 'believer' im sure that something could be picked up in a place like that. i dont think i would fancy having a house that was built on that land if im honest.
 
What I find a huge shame is that the new owners of the houses built on the estate have no access to the beautiful lakes in the grounds, they are fenced off for no-one to enjoy.
 
god i havng a job learning how to use all this message stuff lol keep losing you and checkin my emails! i lived by there up till i left home at 23 and have many memories of st maggies as we knew it
 
will you send me a message so i can see what happens and how i find the message! thanks
 
wendy wu said:
i would have loved to have been part of that investigation as not everyone realises what history our st.maggies has. Coming from a 'believer' im sure that something could be picked up in a place like that. i dont think i would fancy having a house that was built on that land if im honest.
Click to expand...

You probably wouldn't have wanted to have been part of 'that' particular investigation Wendy, as the group concerned are of the type that set up ouija boards in random graveyards to try and 'contact the spirits'!!:D:rolleyes:

Hopefully, we will be putting up a small sound recording made in Gt. Barr Hall a couple of years ago by two of the male members of our group. On checking the footage, it was found to contain a womans voice....... No women were in the area on this occasion and we've never been able to explain it, to be honest!? I'll let you know when it's posted up.....

Regards,

Nick
www.westmidlandsghostclub.com
 
yes if you get that footage i would love to have a hear of it. Im afraid to say that a oujia board and grave yard sounds just like my cup of tea! lol. I have been on a proffesional ghost hunt at the Bartons Arms pub which was great fun but again i came home no nearer to the proof i am looking for. The problem is with these hunts they are all so far away and without transport and money i am unable to make them, but i find the whole thing fascinating and would love to be more involved with them a strange hobby i know.
 
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