In today’s Urbandoned video, we showcase our exploration inside
an old abandoned orphanage near the southern border of Scotland.
The dated structure was built in the late 1800s, formerly a convent and school for girls,
boasting a Gothic, imposing design with stunning architecture,
such as ornate windows, an impressive church and mosaic floor tiling.
Join us as we discover what remains in the building today.
Last time, we asked the question,
‘What do you think about the thieving of copper wiring from abandoned buildings?’
We had many interesting responses but have selected this one from Gezzy who made a
good point, saying that removing copper can open up the property to water damage
and structural failure. This is a factor we agree with,
of the opinion that decay should happen naturally without human control.
This week, we are asking, ‘Would you walk through a derelict building, knowing that
it has internal CCTV?’ Let us know what you think to possibly feature in our next upload.
In south Scotland, the massive, disused orphanage lies atop a hill in a large town.
It’s impressive architecture and scale gives it a superior presence raised above it’s surroundings.
Commissioned to be built in the early 1880s, the building started as a religious convent,
having various extensions in the following decades.
Over it’s period in use, it found function as a Catholic girls school,
a temporary courthouse and a museum, as well as having related films shot onsite.
At one corner of the grounds, we could distinguish a chapel accompanied by many
crosses and stained glass windows. This was the last section of the property to close a
couple years ago, meaning the decay would be contrasting inside between either part.
Despite zero wooden boards on the windows, a decent bordering system of barbed wire fences and
a high amount of external cameras caused us some difficulty, but we soon entered the structure.
Virtually all of the rooms in the complex are bare and empty, with minimal decay.
The most interest that we found in certain areas was dated, wooden beams and unique window shapes.
As we figured the internal CCTV we had been warned of lied on the lower floors,
we started in the upper regions of the orphanage, working our way down. In no time,
we began to spot more and more intruder detection methods each floor we passed.
One of the reasons we enjoyed wandering through the large property was to notice
how little things had changed since it’s construction. It had remained almost identical
in how it was dreamt of, but had found multiple uses in a modernising society.
Like most religious abandonments we come across, the corridors gained an extra detail
as we headed downwards, that made them stand out every time, such as arches,
mosaic flooring and big windows to cast light into the convent.
We progressed into the dormitory block for the students,
recognisable due to it’s smaller rooms and recreational spaces.
After walking past so many cameras, we were almost waiting for a security
member to come and remove us from the site. With this apparently not being the case,
it’s likely that they are in place to catch trespassers that vandalise the
building and are only checked if a new piece of graffiti or a smashed window is spotted.
Keeping this in mind, our moves around the four storeys of the orphanage were tactical,
to stay as undetected as we could. Next, we headed upstairs again, leaving the ground
floor for last where there would definitely be a higher chance of a working sensor.
This was possibly our favourite architectural
region of the building as it looked to be considerably older than everything else,
almost as if this corridor had been locked off because of it’s unsafe attributes.
As mentioned earlier, it was increasingly similar to the classic UK
seminary we visited in 2018, which seemed to boast comparable details and appearance.
There was also more decay in the upper bedrooms,
again signifying that they might have been out of use for a longer duration than everything else.
Despite being quite dark inside, the convent’s church was incredible,
showing no vandalism and all of it’s intricate stained glass windows intact.
A modern carpet had been placed on the ground, but in some parts,
you could make out yet another mosaic floor, of which the congregation would know all too well.
It was one of the best chapels we had seen in terms of it’s condition, used during the
building’s museum occupancy and only vacated a few years back. This hall, as well as the rest of
the structure will hopefully be saved with not too much effort, unlike other locations we have seen.
Various religious memorabilia and furniture also remained in this section of the orphanage,
differently to the vacant rooms across the rest of the complex.
It was only a matter of time. Our exploration was ramped up in pace,
not wanting to be caught by whoever came to switch off the siren,
but we found that many corridors linking to this main one were secured anyway.
With the sighting of this additional segment to the church, we had seen everything that was
accessible. Leaving wasn’t debatable with each of us agreeing to exit as soon as we could,
thankful to still be alone at this stage.
Some proposals for the structure are publicised online, describing it as
bearing the potential for housing, a hotel or a wedding venue. Although, it is clear that
some building work has occurred in the past, it doesn’t seem like much is going on currently.
For now, it sits silent, a ghost of it’s history waiting for new developments.
Here are some of our photographs captured at the abandoned orphanage.
If you like the look of them, check out our Instagram page
where we share images from our explores months before they are seen on YouTube.
Thanks for watching! Thank you for the consistent support on our recent videos, too. We have decided
that if we reach 50,000 subscribers before the end of 2021, we will go skydiving! See you next time!