cane hill | goodbye cane hill
08|08

Parts of the Administration Block were now completely inaccessible. An explosion had torn out the floors in the south-eastern corner; piles of bricks blocked the ground floor rooms whilst the first storey area was just a gaping hole with floors sloping crazily down into the abyss. The whole of the back of Administration had been blown outwards, leaving huge hole in the structure.

I once thought the explosion was caused by thieves attempting to gain access to the hospital’s walk-in safes which were located near the epicentre of the blast. However, Phil (who returned the hospital several times after my 2003 visit) showed me pictures which showed the safe doors wide open; they’d been cut open with oxy-acetylene torches. He recalled pension books and various patient private belongings scattered around the rooms near the safes as the thieves rifled through them and discarded unwanted items.

Therefore there was no need for anyone to attempt to blow the safe doors as they were wide open anyway. So, the reasons for this blast are still a complete mystery.


Remains of the first-floor corridor in the eastern wing of Administration.
Room (Z1.1.12) to the left and room (Z1.1.14) are now inaccessible. © Simon Cornwell 2008