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

01 Kenmore AsylumNew South Wales2020

ISO 1001sf/8.014mm

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

Frederic Norton Manning, NSW Inspector-General of the Insane, acquired 340.5 acres on Taralga Road, Goulburn, for £1,252 in October 1879. Walter Liberty Vernon, the first NSW Government Architect, designed the asylum complex. Kenmore opened in 1895 with capacity for 700 patients across 19 wards.

The entertainment hall and the chapel shared the same room: stage at one end, altar at the other. Vernon's Kenmore core is the largest single body of his work; the State Heritage Register names it the finest corporate Federation Free architecture in Australia.

In March 1941 the NSW Government handed Kenmore over to the Australian Army. Civilian patients were transferred to other Sydney institutions, and the wards became a military hospital. The Army returned the site in 1946 and civilian psychiatric care resumed.

By the 1960s the hospital held over 1,400 patients against the original 700-bed plan. The Commonwealth sold the property in 2003, and the State Heritage Register listed the complex in April 2005. On 16 October 2021, a fire destroyed Ward 15, the former female section.

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

Hand-signed limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not reissued once they sell through.

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

Autopsy Table at The Asylum, a dusty autopsy table in the morgue of an abandoned asylum.

In Between at The Asylum, a narrow corridor runs between a brick wall and a timber-panelled enclosure.

Workbench at The Asylum, a green six-panel door sits closed against a cracked plaster wall.

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.

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.

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 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.

Teaching Table at The Asylum, a heavy timber desk sits at the centre of a disused classroom.

Stairs Up at The Asylum, a narrow stairwell climbs steeply between close walls.

Split at The Asylum, a concrete column divides the ground floor into two paths.

Spare Beds at The Asylum, a large common room with pale yellow walls and white-trimmed windows on three sides.

Slotted Doors at The Asylum, a narrow corridor lined with tall timber doors, each cut with vertical slotted openings.

Slots of Light at The Asylum, a single vinyl chair sits near two windows in an otherwise empty room.

Slipping Away at The Asylum, a stainless steel basin hangs from exposed plumbing on the corridor wall.

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.

Rough Patch at The Asylum, a deep green door stands open at the entrance to a corridor.

Reflective at The Asylum, two recliner chairs sit angled toward a tall multi-pane window.

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.

Pretty in Pink at The Asylum, a long corridor stretches deep into the building.

Prep Kitchen at The Asylum, a U-shaped bench runs the length of the room, laminate doors hanging open on empty cupboards.

Pink Bedroom at The Asylum, a large empty room stripped back to bare plaster.

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.

Office at The Asylum, a small office sits empty at the back of the building.

Obstacles at The Asylum, a narrow corridor, concrete walls streaked with damp.

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.

Mixed Signals at The Asylum, a long corridor stretches toward a green-tiled doorway at the far end.

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.

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.

Leafy Outlook at The Asylum, dead leaves blanket the floor in thick, dry drifts.

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.

Heater at The Asylum, a cast-iron column radiator sits against the far wall, painted the same deep oxblood as the room.

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.

Face at The Asylum, a moulded fibreglass bath-shower unit sits recessed into the wall of a small washroom.

Exit at The Asylum, a narrow corridor ends at two panelled timber doors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

06 PRESS

In the press

I'm often contacted by people who used to frequent the places I photographed. They share stories that enter the collections as additions or corrections. Sometimes they send their own photos from the same viewpoints, taken decades earlier.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

One day I stopped at a vast abandoned factory I passed on my way home from work. There was a long section of fence missing. I wandered in, camera in hand, and that moment was the unofficial beginning of Lost Collective.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

Leaving a secure job to work as an artist, trying to manage inconsistent income and tempering the self-doubt and self-criticism that came with it has been one of the most difficult things I've done.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.