Fireplace at The Asylum, a wide formal room with pale green walls and coffered ceilings.

Series · 74 prints

Kenmore Asylum

Photographed 2020
Frames 74
Camera NIKON D850
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Decommissioned; largely vacant
Opened 1895
Heritage NSW SHR 2930022
Architect Walter Liberty Vernon
Specs 700 patients at opening · 19 wards · 340.5 acre estate
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Kenmore Asylum opened on Taralga Road, Goulburn, in 1895 as the first purpose-built complete mental health complex in rural New South Wales. The site was acquired in 1879 under the same Inspector-General who initiated Callan Park. The hospital closed around 2003 and was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register in 2005.

Walter Liberty Vernon, the first NSW Government Architect, designed Kenmore as his largest single commission. The heritage listing describes the result as the finest corporate expression of Federation Free style in Australia. Nineteen wards were built around a single dual-function hall: a stage at one end for entertainment, a chapel at the other. Kenmore opened for seven hundred patients; by the 1960s it held more than fourteen hundred. The Australian Army ran the site as a military hospital from March 1941 to 1946. On 16 October 2021, Ward 15, the former female section, was destroyed by arson, damage assessed at more than five hundred thousand dollars.

NSW State Heritage Register item 2930022, Mental Health NSW (facilities guide) and Region Canberra (2021 Ward 15 fire)

02 TIMELINE

Chronology

1879
1895
1941
1946
1960
2003
2005
2021
03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Fireplace at The Asylum, a wide formal room with pale green walls and coffered ceilings.
Fireplace
Autopsy Table at The Asylum, a dusty autopsy table in the morgue of an abandoned asylum.
Autopsy Table
In Between at The Asylum, a narrow corridor runs between a brick wall and a timber-panelled enclosure.
In Between
Workbench at The Asylum, a green six-panel door sits closed against a cracked plaster wall.
Workbench
Windows to the World at The Asylum, six windows line a pale green wall, each fitted with heavy security grilles.
Windows to the World
Ward Windows at The Asylum, five tall windows line the ward wall, each divided into small panes with transom lights above.
Ward Windows
Walking on the Ceiling at The Asylum, a narrow corridor stretches deep into the building.
Walking on the Ceiling
Trilogy at The Asylum, three windows set into concrete walls.
Trilogy
Top Floor Garden at The Asylum, a tall sash window sits recessed in an alcove on the upper floor.
Top Floor Garden
The Upstairs Corner at The Asylum, timber wardrobes line the walls of a broad, empty room.
The Upstairs Corner
The Grand Room at The Asylum, a deep crimson and grey floral carpet covers the entire floor, still intact.
The Grand Room
The Grand Entrance at The Asylum, a narrow entrance hall opens toward double timber doors set within an arched frame.
The Grand Entrance
The Back Residence at The Asylum, a panelled door lies flat on the floor, torn from its hinges.
The Back Residence
The Attic at The Asylum, timber roof trusses repeat in deep symmetry down the length of the attic space.
The Attic
Teaching Table at The Asylum, a heavy timber desk sits at the centre of a disused classroom.
Teaching Table
Stairs Up at The Asylum, a narrow stairwell climbs steeply between close walls.
Stairs Up
Split at The Asylum, a concrete column divides the ground floor into two paths.
Split
Spare Beds at The Asylum, a large common room with pale yellow walls and white-trimmed windows on three sides.
Spare Beds
Slotted Doors at The Asylum, a narrow corridor lined with tall timber doors, each cut with vertical slotted openings.
Slotted Doors
Slots of Light at The Asylum, a single vinyl chair sits near two windows in an otherwise empty room.
Slots of Light
Slipping Away at The Asylum, a stainless steel basin hangs from exposed plumbing on the corridor wall.
Slipping Away
Setting the Stage at The Asylum, a green curtain hangs closed across the proscenium stage.
Setting the Stage
Serving Area at The Asylum, a large interior room with a long servery counter running along the right wall.
Serving Area
Rough Patch at The Asylum, a deep green door stands open at the entrance to a corridor.
Rough Patch
Reflective at The Asylum, two recliner chairs sit angled toward a tall multi-pane window.
Reflective
Recreation Room at The Asylum, faded pink curtains filter grey light through a pair of windows.
Recreation Room
Rack and Ruin at The Asylum, a long rectangular hall, stripped bare.
Rack and Ruin
Pretty in Pink at The Asylum, a long corridor stretches deep into the building.
Pretty in Pink
Prep Kitchen at The Asylum, a U-shaped bench runs the length of the room, laminate doors hanging open on empty cupboards.
Prep Kitchen
Pink Bedroom at The Asylum, a large empty room stripped back to bare plaster.
Pink Bedroom
Pebblecrete Pavers at The Asylum, a narrow corridor runs between red brick columns and a rendered half-wall.
Pebblecrete Pavers
Patient Partitions at The Asylum, timber partitions stand clustered in the centre of a long ward.
Patient Partitions
Paint Shop at The Asylum, a large open room with timber floorboards buckled and grey with dust.
Paint Shop
Office at The Asylum, a small office sits empty at the back of the building.
Office
Obstacles at The Asylum, a narrow corridor, concrete walls streaked with damp.
Obstacles
Nature Always Finds a Way at The Asylum, boston ivy consumes the eastern facade of the main administration building.
Nature Always Finds a Way
Narrow Green Room at The Asylum, a long rectangular room stretches toward a single door at the far end.
Narrow Green Room
Mouldy Hall at The Asylum, a narrow corridor runs toward an open doorway at the far end.
Mouldy Hall
Mixed Signals at The Asylum, a long corridor stretches toward a green-tiled doorway at the far end.
Mixed Signals
Mechanical Workshop at The Asylum, a high-ceilinged hall with a corrugated iron roof pitched to a central ridge.
Mechanical Workshop
Making Do at The Asylum, a front room in a federation-era residence.
Making Do
Long Leafy Corridor at The Asylum, a narrow corridor stretches deep into the building.
Long Leafy Corridor
Long Blue Walk at The Asylum, a narrow corridor stretches deep into the building.
Long Blue Walk
Leafy Outlook at The Asylum, dead leaves blanket the floor in thick, dry drifts.
Leafy Outlook
Leadlight Stairs at The Asylum, a stairwell narrows toward a four-panel leadlight window.
Leadlight Stairs
Intermission at The Asylum, a dark timber balustrade climbs through the centre of the stairwell, its turned spindles still.
Intermission
Heater at The Asylum, a cast-iron column radiator sits against the far wall, painted the same deep oxblood as the room.
Heater
Hall of Shadows at The Asylum, a narrow corridor stretches deep into the building.
Hall of Shadows
Glimmer at The Asylum, a concrete stairwell descends between narrow walls.
Glimmer
Face at The Asylum, a moulded fibreglass bath-shower unit sits recessed into the wall of a small washroom.
Face
Exit at The Asylum, a narrow corridor ends at two panelled timber doors.
Exit
Electrical Workshop at The Asylum, a heavy timber workbench runs the length of the room, its surface scarred and darkened.
Electrical Workshop
Dusty Kitchen at The Asylum, a commercial kitchen sits empty.
Dusty Kitchen
Down the Middle at The Asylum, timber wardrobes line both walls in symmetrical rows, their doors hanging open, shelves bare.
Down the Middle
Divide at The Asylum, timber wardrobes and bedside cabinets stand open in two rows, dividing the room into narrow cubicles.
Divide
Decayed Stairwell at The Asylum, dark timber balusters run in tight rows down a multi-storey stairwell, their turned.
Decayed Stairwell
Dead Leaf Carpet at The Asylum, dried leaves carpet the floor of a large common room, banked against the walls in thick.
Dead Leaf Carpet
De Render at The Asylum, a corner room with bay windows.
De Render
Crumbling Stairwell at The Asylum, a carved timber newel post stands at the base of a carpeted staircase.
Crumbling Stairwell
Country View at The Asylum, ornate plaster mouldings cover the ceiling, split open where sections have collapsed onto.
Country View
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Paper

Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm. Metallic Gloss 260 gsm for acrylic-mounted prints.

Sizes

Five sizes, XS to XL, from $100. Open editions in XS and S, limited editions in M, L and XL.

Print tiers →

Production

Made to order in 5 to 10 business days.