Severalls Hospital: The Essex Asylum

Severalls Hospital in Colchester was one of Britain’s largest psychiatric facilities, operating from 1913 until 1997 and housing over 2,000 patients at its peak. After closure, the vast site stood abandoned for years, its miles of corridors and underground tunnels becoming legendary among paranormal investigators. The suffering within its walls left an indelible mark.

The History

Early 20th Century Asylum

Severalls opened in 1913 as the Essex and Colchester County Asylum. Like other asylums of its era, it was designed to be entirely self-sufficient.

Scale

The hospital was enormous:

• Over 2,000 patients at peak
• 80+ buildings
• Underground tunnel network
• Its own farms and workshops
• A world within a world

Treatments

Patients underwent the full range of 20th-century psychiatric treatment:

• Electroconvulsive therapy
• Lobotomies
• Insulin shock therapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Long-term restraint

Closure

Severalls closed in 1997 as part of Care in the Community reforms. The buildings were abandoned, then gradually demolished over the following decades. Some structures remain.

The Hauntings

The Tunnel Network

Severalls’ underground tunnels were intensely haunted:

• Footsteps followed explorers
• Voices called out
• Shadow figures blocked the way
• The sense of being watched
• Many refused to enter

Ward 22

This ward was particularly notorious:

• Former ECT treatment area
• Screaming sounds
• Equipment operating without power
• Extreme emotional responses
• Investigators left in distress

The Chapel

The hospital chapel:

• Spectral services
• Organ music with no organist
• Figures in pews
• A sense of peace amid horror
• Contrasted with the wards

Patient Apparitions

Individual spirits appeared throughout:

• Figures in hospital gowns
• Wandering the corridors
• Sitting in day rooms
• They seemed unaware of closure
• Some sought help

The Mortuary

Where deceased patients were prepared:

• Extreme cold
• The sense of death
• Bodies visible on tables
• The smell of formaldehyde
• One of the most frightening areas

Documented Evidence

Severalls yielded extensive evidence:

• Photographs of full-body apparitions
• EVP recordings in the tunnels
• Temperature anomalies throughout
• Unexplained sounds recorded
• The evidence is voluminous

The Site Today

Some buildings remain, awaiting redevelopment:

• Activity continues to be reported
• Urban explorers still visit
• The tunnels may survive
• The energy persists
• Severalls refuses to be forgotten

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Severalls Hospital treated thousands of patients over 84 years. The treatments we now call torture were standard practice. When the doors closed, the patients remained—trapped in an institution that had been their entire world.