In today’s Urbandoned video, we are showcasing
an explore from a few years ago inside the old, abandoned Heanor Grammar school in Derbyshire. The building was constructed in the early
1900s, understandably grade 2 listed with prominent architectural details that
have survived until now. Since closure, the structure has suffered decay and been
exposed to vandals, leaving it in a poor state. Join us as we explore the educational
facility to see what remains. Alistair: This is Day 24 of our magazine production stage. As
you can see, we’re all busy, hard at work today. It’s coming to completion
now. We don’t have too long left. We’re really happy with how it’s turning out. The articles
are better we think than the first one. We show more unseen locations. We really dive
deeper into some of the themes that go around Urbex as a hobby. We’re happy to announce
that is now available for pre-order! You can pre-order it from our store in the description
and yeah, the full magazine will be released very soon. It’s to be announced, but you can
pre-order it now in the description. On a cold Winter day in Derbyshire, myself and
Theo had arrived at the derelict school, to hunt for a method to reach its interior, bypassing
the few fences that surround its overgrown land. Heanor Grammar School was built in 1912,
originally known as a technical college, switching owners from various local educations
up until its final use by Derby college in 2010, where it focused on the arts.
Multiple buildings lay onsite, but it was the largest and most
dated one we had our sights on. Soon enough, the property’s
lack of protection shone through and we discovered a suitable entry point. Alistair: Wow, these corridors are something.
Lovely tones. Think that’s the main hall on the left. We’re going to stay clear of that
for now, because there’s some cameras in there that we don’t want to get spotted
on, just yet, but we’ll save it for later. Look at the arch. Wow - this is a
really old school. It’s quite different. Theo: This part is definitely the best part of the
school. It’s the bit that’s got some sort of dated architecture retained. We’re actually skirting
the outside of the main hall, but they have cameras inside at the very top. A glimpse into
it, there, but we’ll come back for that later. Alistair: Yeah, we’ll leave it last. Theo: I love the wrap around corridors,
though. It’s really nice. Alistair: It’s a cool design. These wooden
panelled corridors go all the way around the main hall and then they lead off into different
classrooms. Let’s see what’s through here. ‘Social sciences and earth sciences.’ Wow - look
at the pillars. So nice! You can see there’s a really cool arched ceiling above this staircase,
too. It sucks that this place is disused. Alistair: Really old style school, can tell by the
radiators. It reminds me of what one of the Glasgow ones we visited would look
like, if in slightly better condition. This room is pretty wacky. Got the typical handprints on the walls that
you see in a lot of schools. I like the colours. Alistair: Stained glass above this door, too. Progressing through the dark lower levels of the high school, we were noticing
a lack of furniture or artefacts from the past, only appreciating nice wood panelled
corridors and vaulted classrooms. There was a mix of modern and old, such as the
tacky canteen, still offering prices and adverts for the various food and drink the college sold
to students. With little else, we moved upstairs, realising that the interior of the building
was more secure than we had anticipated. Alistair: So weird! Oh my god… Literally, half
these doors are locked. I’ve noticed that a lot of panels have been taken out of doors, so
people could climb through into certain rooms. Probably because, they locked up all
of the doors when this place shut. Alistair: It’s ‘Room 103.’ Literally, all these are locked. It sucks,
but most of the rooms are quite same-y. Can just see through the holes in
the glass what they consist of. Eventually, aware of the couple cameras posted
up in the main atrium, we steadily headed closer to it, knowing the time was drawing near when
we would get the chance to take it in properly. Alistair: Wow! Looks amazing with the sun
setting coming through those windows. We’ll have a proper good look at that later,
but we’re saving it because of the cameras. A lot of the classrooms are quite
different and unique, to be fair. There’s a very modern bit over
there - tall building - that we’ll see if we can get into, but as far as I’m
concerned, the main bits of interest are here. Alistair: Alright, we’ve waited long enough. Theo: I think we’ve waited for
the right time - look at the sun… Alistair: Oh wow! Holy sh**! Theo: That is really nice. Alistair: See how it’s decaying on
the left side, because of the window. Theo: Yeah. Alistair: Mate, this is perfect… It was a special hall, featuring a vast, arched
ceiling, pillars lining the corridors running parallel to it and grand windows to let in
plenty of natural light. We were blown away, mostly in sadness that a room this appealing was
decaying tragically rather than being in use. Dwindling pupil numbers and possibly
a growing cost of upkeep in the dated premises inevitably caused the Grade 2
listed Heanor Grammar to be vacated in 2013. Theo: Can see the camera right up there, top of
the archway. There’s one right above us, as well. Alistair: It’s those circular
windows for me. They make it. Probably my favourite feature in the whole
building. They work so well with the arch. Theo: This room is quite decayed, actually.
It’s probably one of the nicer classrooms, just because of it’s architectural additions. It’s got a bit of a curved ceiling, and these
arched windows up there have sadly been smashed. On the top floor, besides the stunning
entrance foyer, there wasn’t much of interest except for empty classrooms. We had
noted a spiral staircase to assess, though. Alistair: It’s glazed brick, going
up this spiral staircase. Hopefully, it’s not blocked up at the top. This roof is mushy. I don’t want to spend
too much time up here, it’s so obvious. Theo: Can see the whole of the roof is just
moving, because there’s water underneath it. Alistair: It’s like a waterbed. Theo: Yeah, literally. There you go. From the rooftop, we could witness
an overlook of the entire site, as well as the neighbouring
residential areas which you can assume most of the students lived in
and must fear for the school’s future. As a last resort, thinking that if the CCTV was
monitored, it would take the watcher a lengthy duration to drive to the property, we were
able to wander into the atrium’s ground level, giving us a whole new perspective
of the exemplary architecture. Alistair: Looks like they had an art display on, or some sort of textiles workshop in the final days. Not really sure what any of those pictures are of. Alistair: Can see by the markings on the
ground that this was also the school’s gym. Alistair: It gets drastically modern in here. I
don’t think we’re going to come across much in any of these buildings, but some of
the architecture is quite nice, for a school. Alistair: This looks like the main reception, for at least this part. It’s called
the ‘library and learning centre.’ Theo: This, over here, is the
‘library and learning centre.’ Just like the room behind us - extremely
stripped and quite modern. Completely different to the original corridors.
Seen a few of these in schools we’ve been doing, recently. It’s nice to have
some history preserved. Alistair: Shows the former head
pupils of the school. The earliest one is all the way back to 1949, so
I’m surprised this was just left. That was it for the structure and we soon
departed, luckily just as security arrived to inspect the intruders probably caught
on tape. Although the building wasn’t as large as our usual releases, we felt it’s
incredible design deserved a full video. Plans are underway to convert the dilapidated
grammar school into a community leisure and business space and has been granted £8.6 million
from the government to fund the restoration. It will be wonderful to see the facility
functioning again, and we can hope that most of it’s original details are left unscathed.
When this will occur, it is uncertain, so for now, the historic college remains defunct and in
desperate need of the renovations to begin. Here are some of our photographs captured at the
abandoned school. If you like the look of them, check out our Instagram page in the description, where we share images from our explores
months before they are seen on YouTube. We are happy to announce that
Issue #2 of our magazine is available to pre-order now on our website, found in the description.
Make sure to not miss out! See you next time!
