On our way to the Iranian Embassy several months ago, we decided to visit Levenot Mansion, as it is just a few miles from the embassy.
I have to thank @grindle for spilling the beans to me on the location, I know he has already been and successfully managed to get in.
The Embassy was a complete bust as some developers have moved in and placed metal sheeting all around the outside, bastards!
Feeling a little hard done by, we got back in the car and drove the few more miles to 'Levenot', once and maybe still owned by a 'Mr. Ali', but now left to rot away.
Parking a few streets away to avoid being noticed (or that was the plan), we entered the grounds with ease and looked around.
Someone has been doing some burning to what might have once been an outhouse. The tree got lucky and survived.
The house behind is the neighbours. Surely they must have noticed the big fire next door?
The garage may be a way inside...
Tins of paint, old shoes, and TV's were inside amongst other bits of junk and a tightly sealed door.
Perhaps this is not the way after all...
Bypassing a Ferrari casually left on the driveway we walked to the front of the house to be met with Mr and Mrs Ali's clothes and underwear and many other things.
This is something I have seen before and it still puzzles me. Why are all the clothes dumped outside?
The front door no longer hosts the name tag 'Levenot', some dickhead has stolen it. I know this from @grindle's previous explore.
Our quest for getting inside was going badly and then another couple of blokes came into the grounds. They looked young, not cops and not crazy bastards swinging axes.
The two lads were friendly enough and local explorers who claim to have been inside several times.
They did tell us some interesting things, and this is why I like to meet fellow explorers, ‘on the job’
‘Levenot was recently sealed’ – Well that sucks.
‘The neighbours are well used to explorers, don't give a shit about them, and if you want to fetch a 15-foot ladder and get in that top window they won't bat an eye.’
Well great, but going up a wobbly ladder that high would likely bring me down to earth with a quick bang.
The window they were pointing to was extremely high up, too high for me.
- ‘There is a World War II bunker in the grounds of Levenot.’
Well now, that is interesting!
Overgrown by weeds it was not too hard to find, quite short and needed a strong light.
We walked through it to find a worn looking door, a 90 degree turn to the left, and lots of cobwebs.
Would this withstand a German bomb? I doubt it, as it is not very deep. You would likely get buried under all the crap if unlucky enough to sustain a direct hit while in there.
The owners during the war years must have had some money to build it.
We emerged and scouted the house some more for weaknesses. The seal people had done a great job and it was secure for now.
This side of the house reminds me of a budget hotel, lots of rooms.. why did they need so many rooms?
Levenot Mansion is one marked down for a repeat visit. No doubt someone will visit soon, if not already, and open it up again with battering rams, hammers, crowbars, and whatever else they use.
Who these people are is a mystery to me. They never name themselves for obvious reasons, and the entire Facebook community shows them great disdain.
I don’t think anyone wants to come out and say what I will say next….
As explorers, we all take advantage of the big holes they leave. Doesn't it all seem a little hypocritical?
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The bunker was interesting, if small. As to the clothes, that is weird. Maybe someone wanted to prevent mold? Or that is just a way of showing the owners are not around anymore? Or perhaps someone (or someones) is just a jerk.
I think the owner got pissed off, threw out the belongings, and sealed the place up.
That is a distinct possibility.
Some serious Urban Exploration :) Great pictures @slobberchops. The only one here in Holland we know with his own bunker was a lunatic whom thought the world was ending :)
There's a lot of UX targets in Holland, I don't know about the trespass laws though, they differ in each country.
I think the laws are quiet tight but as long as you don't demolish a house :) The won't fine you.
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Your photos are great! Vivid colors. They remind me of water color paintings😉
Why are there so many clothes lying around? Were you able to solve the mystery?
From what I hear.. if you don't pay the rent the landlord gets pissed off, gets all your stuff, and throws it outside. I figure this is what happened.
Aww, thats so sad.
Fantastic post and great pics. I especially like your commentary. Question who was this Ali character you referenced. And how odd is it that it looks like most of the stuff was simple abandoned like the kids toy car in the driveway.
Anyways this is my first time reading one of your posts and i dig it. Subscribing to catch your forthcoming ones.
Mr Ali was the previous occupant, the toys have been moved around a little but fortunately not stolen.. yet.
Thanks :)
Actually I look the pictures with a great admiration...Because it is really hard to find such as abandoned places like that...Also your pictures are great...Once i tried an old mansion in Izmir.There was a gatekeeper. I consisted him a pack of Marlboro to get in the old mansion..It was really great and unforgettable moment for me...I felt the history at that moment...Have a nice day my friend...
It has been known here that you can sometimes bribe security for access, it has not happened to me yet.
Oh, nice find with the bunker. I don't think I've ever seen one. And such a huge house! I think my tiny dwelling would fit into that ten times over. It's nice to imagine who might once have lived there and the lives they might have had.
The house was enormous, with bits added on or it seemed that way. I will get inside one day, it's a little far to check out on a regular basis. Bunkers are scarce these days, most have been sealed up.
It looks like a place that could be brought back to life, yeah a lot of trash outside, and we don't know what the inside is like, but still a nice looking building and a place to have a wine cellar or extra storage with the bomb shelter.
Yeah, it's better than the usual shells I go to. No falling through the floors this time.
How much could you fit in the bunker you reckon?
At a squash around 30 people!
That’s a good size.
You still got some cool pictures, especially the bunker. It may have offered some protection if neighbours got hit. The building looks like it has been extended, but too generic to be interesting. If I had money to build the house of my dreams it would be interesting architecturally. Quite fancy a Hobbit house :)
There is a Hobbit House, on the UX scene. It reportedly has a landowner who hates trespassers. Good thing it's in the south somewhere or I would try and go there regardless.
Maybe some day you can tour the UK checking out the weird and wonderful. Could make for a whole TV series :)
I know I keep saying it @slobberchops but oh how I'd love to buy an old abandoned place like this and bring it back but I KNOW that the laws, rules regulations in the UK would make it ruinously expensive, but still the romantic in me dreams of it often. Too bad you couldn't get in, but still amazing shots.
That bunker is pretty sweet, I have to say. The only bunkers we have over here are more for tornadoes or the prepper people who think the world is going to end soon. I love the ivy all over the building. Those shoes looked pretty new to me. Maybe I just have really old shoes... :)
If you scrape the cobwebs off, hope it's your size, and don't mind hopping on one leg then you would be fine!
lol!
What a cool place and what a ridiculously big bunker under there!!
In Switzerland nearly all houses have these secret bunkers somewhere but I didnt know England also had some. Not bad if the economy goes to crap to hide out a bit there I must say ;)
Good find Chops!
Neither did I, I used to hang around them when I was a kid but most have been sealed up now and were always soggy affairs, full of mud and water.
Green and stinky holes. Yeah I know those ones as well from when I was a kid. Although they werent bomb cellars haha
It's like a symbiotic relationship between the bashers of holes and creator of entrances and the ones who come after! Love the air-raid shelter, useless of course but cool!
It is just that. Nobody ever says what I think, and what everyone thinks. The fact is, there would be a lot less getting inside if the vandals did not exist. I can't say what they do is good but..
This is going around in circles...
Hehe, best never said and just counted as one of life's miracles 🤣🤣
There really is a lot of beauty in the old and the rundown. I like the brightness you must have added with a filter. It gives the photospheres an ironically cheerful coloring. It must have enough a rooming house, hmm?
Lots of rooms in there, I hope to get inside on a future visit. It is not exactly close to where I live though.
Next time bring an axe like Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
Awesome excursion and awesome pics as always. Great post.
That is now well boarded up! I have seen snaps taken twixt our visits and I’m not surprised as the taggers and vandals had been in and done their stuff.
I heard the demolition boys have been back. It's a never-ending cycle ain't it?
Yup, grab our chances whilst we can
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