cane hill | walking the perimeter
29|04|02

So, someone managed to smash the glass in the third floor windows, picking out the little panes in the semi-circular windows, whilst leaving the big second floor windows intact.

Despite my hatred of vandals, I have to give this a slight nod of acknowledgement and a mark for depraved style.

It just emphasizes the brooding madness of Cane Hill, another of the site’s wonderful attributes. (Along with the Teddy Bear incident, the ward with the cards and other weird goings on - see Andrew’s site for the spooky tales.)

I guess that we either have a very good thrower here (although considering the mess on the other side of the building, I have my doubts) or someone was in the room and broke the glass from the inside.

And I've now been in that room. But it wasn't the smashed glass that caught my eye. It was the massive pile of pigeon shit.


2009: The explanation for the selective vandalism was mindblowingly simple. The top floor of any building is often the most exciting and after admiring the views from the windows, it a simple matter to prolong the excitement by throwing a few bricks around.

My annoyance against vandals, arsonists and thieves quickly abated as I became more experienced and visited more sites. Once I’d accepted that the majority of places I visited were in transition, and destined for demolition or conversion, then the actions of these people simply became part of the inevitable process. Not that I condone their actions, but it was just something that was bound to happen, and usually did.


Detail of the bay windows of the dormitories of Wren/Wesley. © Simon Cornwell 2002