I was glad to be inside the building and out of the constant showers of rain which beat down on this old asylum. Many stories of hauntings inside are rumoured yet nothing so exotic crossed my path in my brief time inside here. Just a very dark and imposing building waiting to be discovered. 

The visit was cut short after let's say an 'incident' inside the asylum unfortunately not of the supernatural kind hence the very few shots taken. 

Thankfully I was inside long enough to photograph the magnificent staircase, made of solid wood and still intact apart form the angels which originally adorned it. 

Pool Park was part of the Bachymbyd and Rhug estate, acquired in the 16th Century by the Salesbury family.  The estate then passed into the hands of the Bagot family in 1670 when Charles only surviving daughter married Sir Walter Bagot. In 1826-9, Pool Park was re-built for William, 2nd Lord Bagot, in a half-timbered, mock-Tudor design.        The fine oak staircase came from an old house in Clocaenog, said to be a former Bishops residence. During the 19th Century, the house had several tenants, while remaining in the hands of the Bagot family. However, in 1928 Pool Park was allegedly lost by the Bagot family on a bet at the races. The land was divided into lots and was mainly sold to a Llanrwst timber merchant who felled many of the trees, including the avenues. The house remained unsold and was leased to Sir Henry Tate as a retreat from his Liverpool sugar enterprises.

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In 1934, the District Health Authority bought Pool Park as a convalescent home which housed 80 male patients in 1937 and up to 120 during the war. A POW camp was also established in the grounds. In 1949, Pool Park became a mental health hospital and also accepted women. The gardens at this time were worked by the patients as a form of occupational therapy. The hospital sewage treatment was sited on the slope below the house, close to the stream. The last patient left Pool Park in 1989 when it finally closed it's doors. The house was sold in 1992, but has remained empty ever since. The landscape is overgrown and the house falling into ruin. Pool Park is a Grade II listed building in a grade 2 listed landscape.