i got into this one many years ago – as said st james was what sparked my interest in urban exploration again – was really nice to revisit this little villain the grounds of what started it all again
Background History
The Bay Trees building forms part of the former St James’ Hospital site in Portsmouth. St James’ Hospital originally opened in 1879 as the Portsmouth Borough Asylum, designed to provide long-term institutional care for people with mental health conditions. Over time, the site expanded to include a number of additional buildings as medical practices and social attitudes toward healthcare evolved.
Bay Trees was constructed later as part of this expansion and was most recently used as a residential detoxification unit, providing inpatient treatment for individuals with drug and alcohol dependency. This use continued the site’s long-standing association with extended care and rehabilitation. As healthcare policy shifted towards community-based treatment, inpatient services at St James were gradually reduced, and Bay Trees eventually closed.
The building did, however, see a brief return to active use during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was repurposed as a vaccination centre. Following this temporary role, Bay Trees was once again vacated. In recent years, the wider St James site has been subject to large-scale redevelopment, with some buildings converted for residential use, others demolished, and a number left vacant. Bay Trees now stands unused, secured, and increasingly isolated within a changing landscape.
The Explore
Bay Trees had been on the radar for some time. An opportunity to access the building had arisen several years ago, but at that point it was not fully explored or documented. As a result, it felt particularly worthwhile to return to the site with the intention of properly capturing it this time.
Externally, the building presents as a solid, functional structure typical of institutional healthcare architecture, with an emphasis on durability rather than decoration. Internally, the space shows clear evidence of repeated adaptation. Much of the original layout has been altered through later modernisation, including suspended ceilings, partitioned rooms, and additional services installed during its final years of use.
Many areas are now empty, with fixtures removed and little remaining beyond the basic structure. However, the building still retains a sense of its former purpose, particularly in the circulation spaces and overall layout. The visit highlighted how Bay Trees sits between preservation and removal, having survived long enough to be revisited, but still facing an uncertain future.
Returning to Bay Trees after several years offered a different perspective, allowing its layered history to be appreciated more fully than on the initial visit.
not much is out there about the future of this site but its likely to be sold off and redeveloped into luxury houses… st james really is the gift that keeps giving.. haha
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