Denbigh Asylum
The North Wales Hospital is a Grade II listed building. Designed by architect Thomas Fulljames, building started in 1844 and completed in 1848. Once a hospital for up to 200 people with psychiatric illness, by the early 1900s it housed 1537 patients. It is located in Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales.
On 22 November 2008, during work to renovate the building site and convert it to apartments and residential properties, the building caught fire; it was later confirmed that the main hall of the hospital was destroyed. Arson was suspected at the time. Fire crews went to the scene of a blaze at the site of the former North Wales Hospital. The fire service was called out at 8.12 pm on Saturday, May 7, with one pump from Ruthin and one pump form Rhyl going to the incident. Crews used two CO2 extinguishers and a hose reel to tackle the fire. A spokesperson for the fire service said: “Two seats were on fire and for that reason we have deemed it to be a deliberate ignition.”
Currently on the buildings at risk register, the 2006 planning permission has lapsed. In 2011 the building was at risk of collapsing and no action was taken by the owners after an urgent works notice was issued, Denbighshire Council had no choice but to carry out repairs on the building which reached £939,000. In 2013, Denbighshire Council voted to press ahead with a compulsory purchase order on the building. A three-week Public Inquiry on the challenge to the CPO by the owner completed on 20 March 2015. A new application for planning permission has been submitted by the Princes Regeneration Trust and would be implemented by the North Wales Building Preservation Trust once the CPO is confirmed and the site has been transferred. However it is yet to be disclosed if the application will follow through due to lack of funding and initiative behind the trust.
Following fires in February 2017[8] and July 2017, sections of the hospital will be demolished due to being beyond repair. The council still intends to purchase the site
On the 4th of April 2018 at around 12:30pm fire fighters rushed to the scene of a huge blaze at a noticeable section of the hospital, just weeks after new plans to rescue the building and turn it into a luxury hotel were unveiled to the public.
