Perhaps it’s the hollow yet the forbidding facades. Probably it’s the neglected and decaying interiors, riddled with gusty corridors and the relics of their former purpose. More likely still there’s something in the fear and stigma attached to mental disorder itself. Abandoned buildings of all descriptions seem haunted by the ghosts of their past – but when the ghosts are the souls of those declared clinically insane and sectioned, the place is likely to hold more bad memories than most; bad memories but also great character, rare solace, and irresistible magnetism for urban explorers.

A beautiful collection of photos of abandoned and decaying British asylums. How creepy is that dental chair? Great stuff.