Urban explorers document wrecked seminaries

The stained glass in the photo above is from the chapel of the former junior seminary at Ushaw. The building is closed but there is a group called 28dayslater who post on the Urban Exploration Forums. They go into derelict buildings to take interesting photos. Thanks to Fr Simon Henry for the link on his blog Offerimus Tibi Domine (worth adding to your blogroll)

Here is another photo from the building at Ushaw:

and an overview:

You can find plenty more at the forum entry: Ushaw Roman Catholic Seminary.

The same forum also features Cardross Seminary. This was a modernist building to start with so it does not seem quite so sad that it is a vandalised wreck. Nevertheless, it was considered by those who like such things to be Scotland's best building of the 20th century. It is Grade A listed and is on the World Monument Fund list of the 100 most endangered sites. Here's a piccie of it now:

Bear these pictures in mind when you next hear stories of someone being hassled by the Historic Churches Committee for restoring a High Altar.

The Churches and convents are on the "other sites" section of the 28dayslater forum. There are 51 pages' worth there so you might find some other interesting reports.