St Joseph's Catholic Seminary
One of the proudest derelict buildings in the country. Built in 1883 the college served the entire North of England and was purposefully situated in Upholland, the geographic centre of the Diocese of Liverpool. Whilst the seminary flourished in the post war era, there was a sharp drop in enrollment due to a rapidly changing social climate towards the end of the century. The vast scale of this 150 acre site meant that financial instability during the 1980s resulted in its closure in 1992 and subsequent deconsecration soon after (removal of religious blessing by a priest).
This is not an easy site to access; full time security, alarm systems and cctv operation make it a somewhat covert exploration but I had a little help from a fellow urbexer and bumped into a few lads on the roof who pointed out where to avoid whilst exploring.
The stained glass windows of the prayer room were the cream of the crop. Very nearly missed this room towards the end of the day as it was one of the last we managed to find and it was in the back of my mind during the whole visit having seen images of it before. It was every bit as beautiful as I had imagined. I must make it one of my goals for the future to witness the sun rising through the glass.