The first Cane Hill explorers lacked any plans or maps and probably soon got lost in its winding corridors. Their slow progress was further exasperated by the internal partitioning which was erected as the hospital slowly wound down and closed. These plywood barricades blocked the corridors and stopped the early explorers in their tracks.

Plans gradually started to surface and eventually a collection of archival and contemporary blue prints was scanned and published. This accounted for over 90% of the hospital and was, at the time, the most complete record of any old asylum published on-line. Some came from old periodicals, some came from the research of other websites (such as the_one) and some came from a large cache of documents fortuitously rescued from the engineering section of the hospital.

It is from the latter source, known as the Laura Files, from which the most complete set of plans originates. The "Fire Zone Plans" split the hospital into 45 sections, each of which is represented by a separate plan with every room numbered. Even though some wards were missing, they formed a much more complete record of the hospital than the blue prints, as they included the John Hutchinson centre, the modern boiler house and the administration basements.

Detail of decorative stone alter in the apse of the Chapel. (Z21:G.19:SE) © Simon Cornwell 2008

Therefore the "Fire Zone Plans" are the key reference for all the interior pictures on this site. For example, Z21:G:19:SE means “Zone 21: Ground Floor: Room 19: View South East”. Consulting the "Fire Zone Plans" reveals that Zone 21 is the Chapel Zone and Room 19 is the main chapel itself. Therefore it’s a condensed way of stating that the picture is taken of the alter in the Chapel. But such a system is invaluable for directly pinpointing other, more anonymous, areas of the hospital.

Unfortunately the "Fire Zone Plans" don’t include the corridor numbers, so I’ve resorted to using the blue prints for those. However, corridor shots will be grouped together in context with the ward or building in their section, so the reader shouldn’t have to refer to the two sets too often.

I consider the reference system to be of importance. The vast majority of other Cane Hill archives and websites simply dump all their pictures in an on-line photo repository; this is of little use for those who wish to understand the internal organisation of the buildings or possibly match archival, labelled photographs with more recent ones. Furthermore, the plans and labelled pictures on this site allow for a digital reconstruction to be undertaken, which, again, is impossible when faced with a simple directory of anonymous pictures.

Simon Cornwell
19th November 2010