St James Asylum (2025 edition)

Written by

2025, All Posts, favourite explores, hampshire, Portsmouth urban exploration, south east, Urban Exploration, urban exploration 2025

Sorry Pj Livesey…. also this is very photo heavy

It’s been exactly one year since my last visit to St. James Asylum in the spring of 2024. Returning in 2025, I was struck by how much has changed in such a short time. The site, once filled with haunting remnants of its past—abandoned hospital beds, tattered curtains, old paperwork—now feels far more gutted and empty. What was once eerily preserved has been heavily stripped, losing some of the physical traces that told its story. Thanks to the Easter Bank Holiday, the site was especially quiet—no workers, no noise, just the sound of wind echoing through hollowed-out halls—making the experience even more surreal. Despite the changes, the atmosphere remains powerful, and the decay continues to reveal new layers of the asylum’s long and complicated history.

St. James Asylum is a historically significant and atmospheric site, long drawing the attention of urban explorers, historians, and photographers alike. Opened in 1879 as part of the larger network of Victorian mental health institutions in England, it was originally known as the Portsmouth Borough Lunatic Asylum. Over the years, it expanded significantly, featuring imposing brick architecture, wards, recreation halls, and even its own chapel and mortuary. It served military functions during both World Wars and later operated under the NHS as a mental health hospital.

By the 1980s, the introduction of “Care in the Community” policies led to a major decline in long-term institutional care, and St. James began winding down its operations. By 2018, only a small part of the site remained active. The rest was sold to a property developer in January 2019, marking the beginning of its slow transformation.

In this post, I document my return to St. James in 2025, exploring the current state of its decaying architecture, reflecting on its cultural and medical legacy, and comparing what’s changed since last year. For those who appreciate abandoned spaces, mental health history, or urban exploration, this revisit offers a look at how quickly these places can fade—and why it’s important to witness them before they’re gone.

sorry if some of the pictures are grainy — had to use higher iso instead of torch as there was workers and security onsite still but only a few, cant risk it

Related Resources:

photos of the entertainment hall inside the hospital below (video may load before pics so be patient))