A glimpse inside some of Devon’s forgotten buildings has been made possible by a construction worker who has combined a fascination with old buildings and a passion for photography with exploring abandoned and derelict properties.
Jay Price, of Torrington, spends much of his own time researching and visiting buildings which have been left to rot, not just in Devon, but across the UK and abroad.
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The 30-year-old said: “In my day job I work on new buildings rather than old ones so this is a little bit different.
“When I was younger I spent a lot of time at Torrington Dairy which has been derelict since 1993. I’ve always been interested in the history of places and my job used to take me all over the country so I started looking at urban exploration online and I found locations to visit.
“I have done a couple of local places but there does not seem to be much in Devon and Cornwall.
“I particularly liked exploring a place called Safari House because the location is secret and so few people have been there. I was looking for it for a long time and I was lucky enough to be told where it is.
“When I go in houses they are left exactly how I found it. I don’t touch anything, take anything or damage it, but a lot of people don’t see it that way.
“If people think they can make money out of something they take it such as at Torrington Dairy. All the wire and metal has been stripped out of it. It’s in a very bad state and that’s why locations are kept secret.
“Before I visit places I always do a lot of research before I go such as how you get in, how safe it is, and if there have been any problems with security or locals.
“With Safari House (see below) there was no information on it. When I went it was a little bit creepy because it’s in the wood so it is dark and it is in the house too.
“When someone’s personal belongings are still in a house it feels a bit eerie as you don’t know why it’s been left or whether something happened there. It was a very interesting experience to be inside that house.”
The exploration that stands out most for Jay was when he visited an abandoned mine in the Czech Republic.
He said: “As my partner is from the Czech Republic I’ve done a lot out there. We’re off to Chernobyl soon on a photography tour which will include an overnight stay in the exclusion zone. We get to the nuclear facility that exploded and will be looking at how the city was left and what it looks like now.”
With any building, Jay always has to make sure he explores them safely.
He said: “When you’re used to working in construction and dangerous buildings every day those skills help, but I have had a few close encounters.
“You do have to have your wits about you as there are people who have died doing it.”
In the two years Jay has been an urban explorer he has never been caught trespassing and cases very rarely go to court as it is dealt with as a civil rather than criminal matter.
He said: “Every now and again you get told to leave, but I think as long as you don’t damage anything it is okay to be there.”
Safari House
secret location
Jay recently did a photo shoot at what has been dubbed Safari House by explorers. It’s a place very few people have had the chance to visit because its location is so remote.
The house is found hidden off an old overgrown road which is impassable in a car.
It is located on the outskirts of a tiny village in the heart of Devon and is even invisible from Google's aerial view.
Most people don’t even know the house exists but Jay heard about it through a fellow urban explorer. It is believed to have been abandoned for more than 10 years, but has been in a state of disrepair for far longer.
Inside the ‘hoarder’ house is a long list of finds including toys, three lawn mowers, dozens of blue fruit crates, and hundreds of magazines.
Outside the house sits a Series III Land Rover complete with safari roof rack, covered in years of pine needles and undergrowth – hence the name given to it by explorers.
It is believed the occupant may have once been an artist as the house contains numerous paintings and sketch books, as well as a table full of art materials in the living room.
Jay said: “This is one of those places urbexers (urban explorers) keep quiet for a good reason. The house has been abandoned for over 10 years and everything is still there probably minus one or two pieces.
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“I have visited places that are only a few years old and are ransacked and destroyed. There is no history that I can find on this place as there are only one or two reports on it.
“It’s as if the owners either left in a hurry or they have passed away and no next of kin has been available to take it over.
“The house is full of memories and we can only speculate on who lived here and why it was left.
“The house has a creepy feel to it and the ceilings and floors are slowly falling apart. It will not be too far in the distant future this house will collapse and will just be another place archived on the internet and not forgotten.
“This place really boasts the urbexers rule of ‘take nothing but photos, and leave nothing but footprints’. It’s a very big secret within the urbex community so I can’t tell you the location.”
Torrington Dairycrest Factory
The factory has been derelict since 1993. Every fixture, fitting and pane of glass has been smashed and torn down by vandals.
The site is described as huge with lorries still running up and down the length of it to reach the businesses at the other end of the estate.
It was believed to have been sold for redevelopment in July 2013, but it has remained untouched.
One explorer said: “The place is pure art and beauty, so many amazing sights and also incredible graffiti.
"Sadly lots of kids visit this site and have great fun destroying the place which also attracts the law so be on your guard.”
The abandoned property is the one Jay has visited most because he lives so close to it and uses it as a practice location for his photography business Aurora Photography.
He said: “It was an art deco factory and there’s a few old bits and pieces still in there such as old-fashioned switches and lights. There’s also an old machine, possibly for packaging, coming from the ceiling.
“One of things that’s really good in there is all the artwork inside. A lot of artists practice their spray paintings inside and there’s some really, really good pieces in there. The art changes almost weekly.”
North Tawton Woollen Mill
The mill building was built in 1845 and is described in the listing as a ’rare and substantially intact reminder of the former importance of the woollen industry in Devon’.
For much of the 19th century the woollen industry was one of North Tawton’s biggest employers.
The site was first established as the North Tawton mill in around 1750 by John Fulford of Crediton.
Following closure of the mill in 1930, the site was taken over by the British Wool Marketing Board in 1964 and used as a wool grading centre until its closure in 1992. Some of the warehouse was also rented out later for the storage of milk.
In 1994, the premises were bought by a local land owner and have remained empty ever since.
The buildings on the site are now derelict, and an independent consultation concluded that owing to the costs involved with restoring the buildings and providing a suitable flood defence system, it would not be financially viable to designate any of the proposed flats as affordable housing.
In 2011, plans were submitted to build 59 residential units on the site, which would involve interior and exterior alterations to the Grade II listed structure.
A public consultation was held.
Jay said: “I visited it a couple weeks ago after someone told me about it. I never knew it was there and I’m born and bred in Devon. Unfortunately there’s hardly anything in there as it has been stripped, but it was still interesting because of what it was used for before.
“It was all run by steam and water power. During World War Two its machines were stripped out to be melted down during the war.
“From what is still left today I found the posts holding up the ceiling interesting. They are very nice metal ones with nice features on them.
“In the main building the floors are quite unstable but there’s a few quirky things you can see.”
Seafield House
Westward Ho!
The abandoned house is found on the edge of a cliff and is known by locals as ‘The Haunted House’ because of its appearance and ominous position overlooking the sea.
So far Jay has only pictured the outside of the property but he has been given permission by the owner to go inside it in the near future.
Jay said: “Growing up in the area everyone knows about Seafield House. The lady who used to live there did so on her own and the house then passed on to her family, but it has been left empty.
“It’s a very, very old building at it used to be a hotel at one point. In WW2 I think it was used as a field hospital.
“Since it’s been empty it has been locked up. I don’t know anyone who has been in there apart from two people who were given permission.
“They are now doing something with the house so I think they are clearing it out so I doubt many people will now get the chance.”
Old mansion
near Exeter
On Jay’s target list is a property which he describes as a ‘very old mansion’. It was once a scrapyard and was recently sold to developers.
Mountfield House
Musbury, near Axminster
The house was built in 1865 and was not listed as a Grade II building until March 10, 1981.
According to Historic England, the “small mansion” is roughcast with stuccoed dressings and a slate roof behind parapets. The two-storey building has three bays, sash windows and a terrace with cast iron balustrade.
The last – and current – owner is 85-year-old Dr Annette Drummond-Rees who has been described on some urban explorer website forums as a “collector”.
According to a witness statement found by one urban explorer - Neil Ansell, who uses the name Abandoned Explorer on his YouTube channel – Dr Drummond-Rees studied at Guys Hospital in London between 1949 and 1953. She went on to work as a chartered physiotherapist and later obtained a doctoral degree in the NHS.
Inside the house is paperwork which suggests she worked for the NHS for a total of 35 years, becoming a senior manager in 1975.
One some stage the mansion was split into four different apartments and Dr Drummond-Rees was widowed in February 1996 when her husband Henry died aged 82.
A solitary report in the Exeter Express and Echo newspaper gives clues as to the slow demise of the property.
According to its report in 1997 Dr Drummond-Rees had been arrested for failing to pay £1,430 fines and costs imposed two years previously.
She told Axminster magistrates she had appealed the case, after her conviction in 1995 at Bridport court. The magistrates agreed to an adjournment hearing to allow her to produce documentary evidence that she had appealed the case.
The Exeter Express and Echo report went on to highlight the 1995 court appearance.
It noted how Dr Drummond-Rees had been fined £250 and told to pay £1,180 prosecution costs for having electrically unsound equipment in a Lyme Regis holiday cottage.
During the 1995 trial Dr Drummond Rees had denied five specimen charges of having unstable electrical appliances in a holiday cottage.
It was described as the “first case of its type to be heard in the county”.
Dorset Trading Standards officer William Jaggs said Dr Drummond Rees was warned that the equipment in the holiday home would be checked, yet nine electrical items were seized.
Two electric fires, a standard lamp, and a TV booster power supply failed to meet the regulations.
Harry Haverhand, defending told the court that up to 20 people stayed in the cottage in any one year.
Last year part of the property was put up for auction but withdrawn just before the auction took place.
Mountfield was advertised as a “13 bedroom detached house” which was split into four flats.
With a guide price of just £95,000, the property was said to be located in “the historic village of Musbury” which was “conveniently situated between the bustling market town of Axminster with its main line rail station and the coast at Axmouth and Seaton”.
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