The school I’m going to was built on the former grounds of The London Asylum for the Insane. The buildings are still standing, and it might be a good place to film.

First, from Heritage London’s whitepaper, as a reason to preserve: “Impressive scale and architecture of Victorian period public buildings and landscape.”

Next, here are some notes from an MA thesis on the asylum:

“[Dr. Burke prescribed] opium, not alcohol, although it was found to be addictive, [lowered] appetite, and caused nausea. He prescribed cannabis for sleep.”

“Masturbation was seen as the cause of insanity. The theory was that during sex blood rushed to the head causing damage to nerves in the brain. Masturbation [at a young age] was worse.”

From an urban exploration site (warning: has music), this tidbit:

“A more contraversial [sic] treatment method that [Dr. Burke] used was his gynecological surgeries, performed on over 200 women between 1895 and 1901. The theory at the time was that a women’s [sic] mental health was intimately linked to her reproductive system.”

Last, here’s a photoset from an urban explorer who was resourceful enough to get inside. There are some great, eerie shots there.

There’s definitely a scenario hiding there. Weird surgeries and patient gardens — they even built a chapel — all under the haze of opiates, cannabis, and insanity in Victorian Upper Canada.