With the year drawing to a close it's time for the annual depressing look back at things that were lost this year - be it through demolition, at the hands of arsonists, or (rarely!) renovation.

Unlike last year, which saw a number of big high profile locations demolished in the UK, this was somewhat quieter with only a couple of 'big name' locations falling at the hands of demolition companies.

Perhaps the biggest loss of an exploring mainstay was the former animal research facility Houghton Grange, in the leafy Cambridgeshire countryside. The facility, composed of dozens of 1950s-era buildings surrounding an 1800s manor house, had been derelict since the 1990s and, although the house itself was always alarmed and secured, the dozens of other buildings provided ample exploring opportunities. As of now it's nearly all gone, with the listed manor house being kept in whatever development takes it's place.







The other biggest loss, well on it's way to being flattened now, is a site that was at first half demolished over a decade ago in 2010. Stewartby Brickworks was once the largest brickworks in the world, although it shrunk over the years after - and the final iteration of it closed in the mid-2000s. The iconic brick chimneys towered over the surrounding area, visible for miles around, but following a lengthy process all of the remaining chimneys were brought down back in the summer, beginning the demolition across what remained of the site.

I paid two visits here, one in 2010 whilst a large part of the site was being demolished, and again in 2015.









The Grotto House, otherwise known as Basildon Grotto, was a manor house located local to me and one of a few local sites to go this year. The house had been derelict since 2007 when a leisure company who had used it as their headquarters departed - a renovation was begun soon after but stopped when the big financial crash happened. Early this year the entire house was gutted in an enormous fire which left it a ruinous shell.







Tangerine Confectionery, a former sweet factory on the south coast. Demolished in the spring.







RAF Church Fenton, a sprawling former RAF base and, back in 2016, one of the best examples of pure natural decay I've ever seen. The base closed in 1994 and whilst part of it became Leeds East Airport, most of the former RAF buildings were left to decay.









Hawick Cottage Hospital in the Scottish borders town of Hawick, was one of the most unsafe, rotten places I've ever been. Pretty much every floor was affected by either dry or wet rot, or both, with a lot of the building simply too unstable to traverse. It was quietly demolished in the summer.









Chipping Norton Hospital. I had tried numerous times to get into this local hospital ever since it closed in 2011. It was always, without fail, sealed extremely well, until a chance conversation took place between a friend of mine and some local youths one night back in the spring of this year. They casually mentioned to him they'd booted one of the doors open so the very next morning we went down there and finally had the run of the place. It was sealed shortly after and demolished in the summer.









Arthur Hill Swimming Pool, another location close to me which is now no more. The place was always done up extremely tight and full of alarms, but I was lucky enough to get a permission visit last summer. Demolition work commenced early this year.







The Springs Spa Hotel. Yet another local one to me, located only a short distance from The Grotto House, but this one has a happy ending - it's now being completely renovated and plans to reopen as a hotel at some point.







The penultimate one I managed to unknowingly time pretty much spot on. The former DAF Trucks UK Headquarters was local to me and on my radar for a while, I somehow managed to visit back in the summer in the short window between all the alarms being removed, and the demolition machinery arriving on site - as it was demolished little more than two months after I visited.







The last place is possibly the place I hold closest to my heart out of anywhere I've ever explored over the last 12 years.

RAF Upper Heyford was mostly demolished from 2013 onwards, however one small part remained - the former school located some way from the site in a far corner. It had been disused since the early 1990s and was a place I spent many, many days in and around exploring and have some of my most special memories from that place. Around half of the school was demolished during the main clearance but half of it hung on, until it was quietly flattened back in the summer.

My last visit was in 2020, just before the first lockdown brought everyone's lives to a screeching halt, and I'm so very glad I got to spend some more time there.









The last photo below shows my favourite room from the entire school - I've got photos of this room going all the way back to 2010 and my first ever trip to the base.



The floor is yours now, feel free to add anything big or small that you lost in 2021.

Wow man, sucks to hear that a couple of favorites local spots were taken from you. That brickworks seemed really cool.

I'll get going on my list later. We lost a good number of things as well.

I lost my biggest love, the place where my interest towards the abandoned started from.



This place was a slaughterhouse and a sausage factory known by the locals as
the castle where they made meat'. Its original use ended in the 1980's and it continued as the premises of a food wholesale company until the early 1990's when all activity stopped.

It was mainly used as a storage and was filled with random stuff by the owner. Slowly it started deteriorating in the hands of time and unauthorized visitors.

I first visited the place in 2009 in the middle of the night and photographed it from basement to attic in 2010. Photos and my exploration diaries can be found here:

https://desertedfi...es-were-made-2010/

When I next entered the building in 2015, I knew the end was near. The roof had started to come in and the neighbors and authorities started increasing pressure towards the owner to do something. It was back then I got the idea of taking another tour through the whole building and photographing the same spots I did back in 2010 to document the changes.

I finally had the chance to do this in late July, 2021. Just over a month later three teenagers shot a firework inside. The rubble stored in the building ignited and the whole thing went ablaze. The fire department had to demolish everything, as they couldn't put out the fire and the building was in danger of collapsing.

Now, four months later, the pile of rubble still stands in the middle of the village. The estimated cleaning costs of the ruin total hundreds of thousands, and the building was uninsured. The owner intends to get the perpetrators to pay for everything. This is going to take time, so I'll probably get the chance to photograph the ruins next summer, when I get back to the village.

One I missed from my list which was mentioned to me only yesterday.

The Anglo Beef Processors abbatoir in Blisworth about an hour from me, I saw it in early 2019 before it went massively and extremely quickly downhill - six or so months after my visit the large building was totally unrecognisable, filled with graffiti and had suffered a couple of fires, and now it's a pile of rubble.

As I mentioned before, we really lost a lot this year here in the states. Even as I type demolition is progressing on several locations. Lets dive right in to the discussion. I'm going to start off with 10 that stood out for now.

1. AK Steelworks; Ashland, KY

What can I even say. Visiting the old AK Steel complex was such a blessing. The massive integrated steel mill covered several acres along the Ohio river. It was a laughably easy place to access, as it didn't even have a proper fence. I had never been inside a steel mill that still had power, so this one was a real treat. Demolition was announced several months ago, but they didn't have any idea how long it was going to take. I foolishly assumed that meant several years. It turns out it was just a matter of weeks.

Foamy Steel Mill by EXR, on Flickr

AK Steel Mill by EXR, on Flickr

AK Steel Mill by EXR, on Flickr

AK Steel Mill by EXR, on Flickr

2. Bergen Street School; Newark, NJ

On the opposite end of the coolness spectrum was this school in Newark, NJ. The building had several sections from different periods of time, with the oldest being constructed in the late 1800s. Unfortunately that section was set on fire several years ago. The building sat empty for a few years but was eventually razed earlier this year.

IMG_9328 by EXR, on Flickr

3 . Brownsville Hospital; Brownsville, PA

This was a spot I sort of assumed would just kind of crumble into obscurity. For some reason they decided to hit fast forward on the inevitable and the land was cleared earlier in the year.

Catherine E. Whompis Memorial Hospital by EXR, on Flickr

4. Tonawanda Coke; Tonawanda, NY

This was a really fun trip. My girlfriend and I had just been handed down the consequences of our 2019 arrest, and were supposed to be on our best behavior. What better way is there to celebrate other than doing a large recently closed industrial spot with no intel on security or access. Joined by our buddy TheSwanStation, we headed out early and made our way into the property. Despite being on edge the whole time, we managed to see most of the place over the course of several hours. Unfortunately the complex was taken down this year.

Tonawonda Coke by EXR, on Flickr

Tonawonda Coke by EXR, on Flickr

Bloke Coke Co. by EXR, on Flickr

5. Our Lady of Victory; Philadelphia, PA

Wouldn't be a proper year end thread without a completely senseless contribution from Philadelphia. The OLOV Church sat far outside the center of the city, almost at the West Philadelphia city limits. I suppose the obscure location was the reason I never saw anybody else visit this church. It was really a work of art. It even featured a large mural of Jesus with more historically accurate skin tone than we are usually accustomed to seeing. A few people managed to slip in as demolition was underway, but other than that I believe we may be the only ones who got to see this one with pews and whatnot still inside.

Blessed Sacrement Church (Philadelphia) by EXR, on Flickr

6. Goudey Generating Station; Westover, NY

Just outside Binghamton sat this beautiful old power plant. I remember going by it in 2016 right after it closed. I didn't get inside, but I was determined to revisit. That chance eventually came one day when Mookster was stateside. Thankfully that was before the place was completely ransacked. I remember coming up the stairs in to the turbine hall and saying "oh, its THAT one!" We spent a good amount of time climbing around and taking photos. As we were getting ready to leave we noticed several workers going about their business outside the building, We brainstormed what the best course of action was, and came up with something brilliant. We joined arms and skipped off the property. The workers were surely confused as none of them even called out to us. We got back to the car and continued our journey. I was able to make it back inside once after that, and by that time it was all over Instagram and as you can imagine it was quite thoroughly trashed. The building has been coming down over the course of several months, and I believe just a small piece remains.

Goudey Generating Station by EXR, on Flickr

20180506_080210 by EXR, on Flickr

Dusty Generating Station by EXR, on Flickr

7. Warren Street School; Newark, NJ

This one really bothered me. This beautiful, unique school sat empty for several years not too far from the iconic Newark Jail that everyone loves to visit. Very few people ever checked out this school. The first time we went I found a door unlocked on the back of the building. I looked around and made eye contact with a security guard for the university who owned the building. This was when we still had nerves of steel, and he was on the other side of the fence, so we just said fuck it and went in anyway. We quickly documented the auditorium before leaving out through the front door, which had a convenient push bar. However by the time we came back to do it more discreetly, they had turned the alarm back on. I went inside to open the front door for my cohorts, and just as I got to it the alarm started going nuts. It was an audible alarm which echoed loudly throughout the NJIT campus. We ran back to the car and waited about 5 minutes before driving past to check out the scene. There were campus police EVERYWHERE. It took me several years to work up the nerve to go back inside. By this time there had been a small fire in the back of the building, and NJIT had been prepping the building for demolition. I woke up early a few days in a row to sneak in and get some photos of the demolition. The land is now completely bare.

Warren Street School by EXR, on Flickr

Splitquick High School by EXR, on Flickr

Warren Street School by EXR, on Flickr

8. RKO Keiths Theater; Queens, NY

Ahhhhhhh this one makes me so sad, I loved this building. We were lucky enough to get inside a few times over the years, The last time we went we found a way to climb up and around the stage, so we spent hours taking photos and treating the whole place like a jungle gym. I'm so glad they left the lights on for us. Shes gone now, apparently a tower will rise in her place.

RKO Kieths Theater by EXR, on Flickr

9. American Cyanamid; Princeton Junction, NJ

Not much to say about this place. I visited several years ago and I was amazed at how intact the place was after 15 years of closure. A few years and several hundred Insta kids later the place was a disgusting mess. They smashed windows and let water into the otherwise well sealed structures. The place is gone now anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter in the end.

Americhem Research Laboratory by EXR, on Flickr

Americhem Research Laboratory by EXR, on Flickr

Americhem Research Laboratory by EXR, on Flickr

10. Penn Hills Resort; Analomink, PA

Lets end this sad thread with a net positive, The festering shame that was Penn Hills resort has finally been wiped from this planet. What more do I need to say?

Penn Hills Resort by EXR, on Flickr

I have more to add, but no time right now to do it. I will add more later.

Oh god man AK hurts so bad.

Huntsman Pigments Corporation's (Venator Materials / Pfizer) Easton Pennsylvania plant. This factory officially closed in late 2017, at which time the remaining 80 employees all lost their jobs. During its vacancy, the factory was relatively well watched by guards who would sit in a security shack out front and stare at a monitor relaying footage from various security cameras positioned around the exterior of the property. What made this factory interesting is that many of the buildings dated back to the 1800s and were connected by tunnels. Many portions of the complex had been abandoned for decades prior to the official 2017 closure. Numerous signs were posted on doors that read "Do Not Enter Abandoned Area"; of course all these doors were unlocked and lead to some pretty interesting areas of the factory, including some funky 1970s era laboratories.

Over the course of its 100+ year existence, this factory was used to develop and produce rust colored pigments, which resulted in everything in the factory being coated and stained with this nasty red powdery material. After exploring this property I can recall my boots being stained so red that I contemplated throwing them out. In early 2020 the pigment plant was sold to a developer and over much of 2021, the buildings were demolished. There's still a few small structures left standing, but the property is well over 90% gone. I suspect it will be turned into unaffordable housing or maybe a WaWa next to a couple more WaWa's. Regardless, an environmentally positive demolition, as often chemicals were discharged into the adjacent Bushkill Creek, turning the river water a deep brownish red, resulting in mass fish kills. During demolition it was discovered that a second small creek was actually buried beneath the factory and enclosed within a cement tunnel.

Damn, I remember that pigment factory. I would look for the gigantic rust patch that was the property to find the Simon Silk Mill on maps back in the day. I remember recently going to check on Simon and seeing just the stacks remaining on the pigment factory property. Bummed I never made it, I'm glad you were able to though.

Another place which I just got confirmation has indeed been flattened - the former ICI Imagedata thermal films plant. The plant was situated next to another derelict factory, the former British Xylonite/Wardle Storeys plastics factory and the two had a somewhat intertwined history. BX closed in 2007 and ICI closed in 2010, with part of the ICI site being taken over by another thermal films company which is still there to this day. The BX factory was utterly destroyed post-closure and was demolished back in 2017 but the ICI plant, hidden amongst a number of active buildings, went pretty unnoticed. It still contained two of the trio of massive three-storeys-tall film manufacturing machines and a cool pump room too.

Bham had it rough the past few years with shit getting demolished/redeveloped, and this year was no different. This isn't everything that's been hit with the wrecking ball this past year, these were just a few of my favorite spots.


Ensley High School is currently being demolished so the property can be turned into housing and commercial properties. It was built in 1908 and operated for almost a century, closing in 2006. The school was used as surplus storage by the city for awhile after closing with tons of random equipment from other schools being shoved ceiling high into rooms. At some point around 2010-2013 the power was shut off and the place was left to rot. In 2018 lightning struck the old radio tower on the roof and partially burnt the place. One of the better places I had ever been to, I spent an entire day here on my first trip in early 2016. It was a wonderland of cool architecture and filled with old relics. I've lost count of how many times I went here, easily around 20 or so times.


Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr


Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr


Some after fire photos


Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr




Another School that was demolished was Banks High School Built in 1956 and closed 2006 as a middle school. Was covered in graffiti and mostly empty, but had a killer auditorium.


Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr



A little Methodist Church in the Fountain Heights neighborhood was demolished early this year. Had some nice stained glass and sanctuary.


Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Untitled by Abandoned Alabama, on Flickr

Ugh that's all so upsetting. I waited too long to make it down to Birmingham, hurts to see Ensley go even post fire. Thanks for the updated Sheavy.

Damn Ensley was a beauty, makes me even sadder that our plans fell through last year thanks to the 'rona

Posted by Sheavy

Damn, that's a lot of nice architecture. I hope somebody saved the stained glass at least?

Greensberg Radiology Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. Though it didn't look like much on the outside, this clinic featured several intact x-ray machines, a particle accelerator, and lots of other equipment and records. It was bulldozed to make room for a parking lot.



ADM Silos in Chicago, Illinois. Sitting right near downtown, these grain silos provided a perfect rooftop view of the downtown city skyline. Demolition was already underway when I visited last May, but there was enough left to get some decent photos.



Westgate Mall in Madison, Wisconsin. Built in the sixties and shuttered in 2019, this mall clung stubbornly to life through it's slow decline. Eventually a combination of poor design, bad location, and competition from a nearby modernized mall forced it to shut down. It too was already under demolition by the time I got to it.



Monterey Hotel in Janesville, Wisconsin. Built as a luxury hotel in 1929 and closed in the nineties, it was bought by a local businessman 25 years ago with the intention of redeveloping it. After decades of red tape and committee meetings with the city, that redevelopment project has finally started. The hotel was stripped down to its exterior walls and turned into a shell so that it could be rebuilt as a modern apartment building.



Lew Wallace High School in Gary, Indiana. Opened in 1921 and shut down in 2014, this was one of the coolest schools in Gary to explore because everything was left behind when it shut down. City officials began pushing for demolition a year or two ago after a video was released showing teenagers running around inside naked, defecating everywhere, and tasing each other with a stun gun. Demolition was started in early November and is expected to take 150 days.

Posted by Emperor Wang Damn, that's a lot of nice architecture. I hope somebody saved the stained glass at least?

Hopefully so, but I'm not sure that happened.