Sunday, May 27, 2012

Haunted places in Melbourne, Australia - Greenvale Sanatorium


Greenvale Mental Hospital

This article is a little close to home. Literally. The Greenvale Sanatorium, also known as the Mental Hospital was situated in Greenvale, Victoria, Australia. But before I get any further, let me give you a little bit of history regarding this Mental Hospital.


The Greenvale Sanatorium was established by the Victorian Government, under the administration of the Health Department in 1905. It was established for the treatment of consumptives.

On May 10th, 1905 it was finally opened. But the 11th of May, there were 10 patients already.
The land is situated on a large 300 acre property, on the wooded uplands near Broadmeadows. It is 500 feet above sea level. It was put there to provide fresh air and a nice temperate climate. It was also in close proximity to Melbourne City, as well as the beautiful lands that surrounded it.


The main ward block and administration wing was designed by Percy Everett.

This was the very first institution in Victoria dedicated to the treatment of TB, or as you know it, Tuberculosis.Whenever patients would come in, they had to abide by the strict regiment which awaited them. The primary purpose of such an institution is. by means of generous and selected food, open-air life, and other forms of recuperative treatment, to develop the resistence of the body to the disease, and to arrest the progress of the disease, and to restore the patient to their normal condition.


Now what's a little history without the paranormal side? Greenvale Mental Hospital was known to be one of the most haunted Sanatoriums in Victoria. It was told (as well as experienced) by people, that the former occupants still reside in their residence, roaming the halls and rooms of the beautifully structured building.

Jane used to be a nurse who worked in the Hospital, treating patients with TB. Now I'm not exactly sure when she was there, but all I know is that she eventually died there and now her ghost walks the halls of the building. Another is the groundskeeper who roams the lands of the site, he has also been seen by a few people.
The Sanatorium is also situated right next to an Aboriginal Cemetary. If you don't already know, it is known around Australia that most of the Aboriginal land, is haunted.
It was surrounded by 6 foot high fences to keep people out. Security had intervened, and patroled the lands and buildings to keep people like us out. Haha.
Anyway, I can't find any ghost pictures or videos relating to the  Mental Hospital, But if anybody does have any, why not share the love and show it to us?

In 2008/9, the Government demolished the building, cleared the land and turned it into some residence for the elderly.

Have you ever been to Greenvale Mental Hospital? Did you have any experiences you'd like to share with us?












38 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. lm am trying to let this person know that l lived at poperty that the big bluestone barn is. it was owned by the webster family back in the day. l played in that barn as a child . l dont think it was haunted. l also went to school at greenvale primary. l had friends who lived at the greenvale geriatric center. l can tell you l only have the best of memories of the village. we used to have our xmas concerts there. all the families and residents came to watch. the families l remember living there were the snowden family the taylor family l think carrs. not sure on the last one. but like l said awesome memories.

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  2. You have one fact incorrect about Greenvale Sanatorium, it was never a mental institution, it was opened in 1905 for the treatment of TB, in the mid 1950's it was changed and made into a place for the aged, then in the 1970's it was known as a geriatric centre. I have lived in the area since the late 1940's and can assure you it was never a mental institution. The only institution for the treatment of mental illness in the area was the Sunbury mental Hospital, now a university complex.

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    1. I agree. I was a nurse for many years at Greenvale Geriatric Centre. I worked night duty and it was haunted on the north side. I was always scared when I had o do rounds by myself

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    2. Yes my Grand Auntie died there of TB

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    3. my darling father was a male nurse/ orderlie at greenvale village. omg he had awesome stories too.

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  3. I found it early in 09.I'd lived in the area for about 20 years but never knew of it exisistance. It definitely had a creepy feeling,almost as if we were being watched.

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  4. I did my State Enrolled Nurses training at the Greenvale Centre (as it was then known) in 1985. I was never lead to believe that it had been anything other than a TB hospital. And although I never had any ghostly encounters, I am aware of nurses who did though I can't recall the stories. But I did tend to several persons once they were deceased and I wouldn't be surprised if their spirits lingered in the buildings..

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    1. i also did my training there at the same time sister agnew was the tutor sister

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    2. Hi. I worked there, my name is Steve Baker and I married June Brooks. If you know us, drop me an email srb1957@live.com.au

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    3. I too did SEN training in 1985 and am just going through some old stuff and found our graduation ceremony pamphlet so I googled the place which is why I'm here!

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    4. I also did my SEN training there back in 1974 and Sister Agnew was my tutor sister i lived in the nurses home there while doing my training,still remember the good days but the worst was night shift and if someone passed away going down to the morg was the worst.

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  5. i worked there for many years as a nurse in the 60s, never , known as a mental hospital as stated above after the sanatorium days it became greenvale geriatric centre, i never heard of anyone seeing a ghost but when doing night duty nobody liked taking deceased bodies down to the morgue as the ground floor was not used as wards and was very creepy at night, remember going to the morgue in the early hours of the morning on summer nights if the wind was blowing it would make creepy sounds in the pine trees at the back, lol, but as good as most of us were to the patients it was not a happy place, they were all in big ward only separated by curtains when they were drawn and many never got visitors more than perhaps once a year, it was hard to get to if you didnt have a car, a bus only came in and out once a day dropped people off at the train station.i still remember many names of the people i nursed but lost track of all when i moved interstate but they were interesting times

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  6. Hi Mindy,

    I'm an Irish film maker here in Melbourne for next few months and looking to meet other industry people to make a short here before I leave. Love to do something on the paranormal if you'd be interested in being part of a team. My most recent short film is up on my blog currently @ http://lahmatravels.blogspot.com.au it's names smile and say bananas.

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  7. Me and my girlfriend and some other friends went there a couple months back to check it out. The North side is definitely haunted because you can always here footsteps and when you answer the steps get louder. My mate claimed to have seen a slim man and we heard a loud thump so we all ran to the car but our battery was flat. Man, that was by far the most scariest moment we could have ever experienced, I have never ever been on the search for any more haunted places ever since.

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  8. I used to do security patrols there in the 90s, I never saw anything but you could feel eyes on you. A few patrol men saw a man on second level of the building by the window, my mum used to clean the directors house back in the 70s early 80s Greenvale Hospital always gave me strange feeling I used to spend a lot of time on the grounds as a little kid Sunbury Asylum I had the same feeling in, you just felt the energy like someone watching you. I patrolled salesian college sunbury as well but I don't think that was haunted at all

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  9. I spent a lot of time in Greenvale Hopsital as a young girl, my mum was a house maid of the director house that was just down the road from the hospital back in the 70s and early 80s, that place always gave me a strange feeling, I did a lot of security patrols at the hospital back in the 90s as well as the old Sunbury asylum both places are haunted, I didnt see anything but you could feel a presence. A few patrol men did see a man on the second level by the window at GreenVale Hospital . Those two places were the only places that would make me feel scared

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  10. In 1979-1980 my father was GP at the Greenvale Geriatric Centre. We lived in one of the approx. 15 houses on the grounds. I remember the fun we had running and even cycling through the corridors and the elderly clearly enjoying watching us kids ride play about. Never thought of the place as being haunted,,, the eeriness was clearly present though. If it was haunted, to me it was definitely not in a scary way.

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  11. My mother was deputy matron at Greenvale in the late 40s early 50s. Was never a mental institution.
    She has never said she saw ghosts but she probably scared them off!!!

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  12. Well..... how interesting to read all your stories!
    I myself went investigating there many moons ago. My friends & I went quite a few times in daylight & at night, I can reassure you there is definitely paranormal activity as well as something very sinister, the walls play games with your mind & you can get completely lost! As this happened to us the second time we entered & went over the bridge to other section of hospital. Back then it was quite undisturbed as not many knew of the place & the few that didn't know how to actually get there as entrance etc had been well overgrown & you had to walk through mass bush before you got to fence. I took a couple of girls there once they had herd but the place but had no idea where it was.... let's just say they didn't stay long after I pointed out all the floating blue orbs lol I was just looking in window & noticed them, of course the girls freaked crying & wanted to leave asap. I have many strange things that happened there & at cemetery which wasn't far from hospital.

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  13. i did my training there in 1985/86 and clearly while on night shift writing out my report things happened like the shower would turn itself on and when i went to look the shower floor was dry, and one night while going to my car after afternoon shift there was a figure in a wheelchair in the trees or i should say apparition, today i am going back for a look 30 years later will update later

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    1. well i went back to have a look high fence all round but i got in walked down the road to were the hospital should be only to find nothing there, i met a man who was birdwatching and he said there have been no buildings for 10 years, such a waste it was a great building teeming with history and stories sad to see it gone :(

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  14. hahah! it was never haunted and security were there to stop people from entering due to the asbestos

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  15. This place was scarier than pratt st resavoir. Im saddened to here the buildings are gone. Although when i went years ago the deconstruction had already begun and we had to sneak passed security to gain access. Once inside before i had made it up the first flight of stairs we found, i had heard many doors open and close which i dismissed as wind. Having said that the whole time i spent there i felt watched and short of breath and VERY VERY cold despite the 7 layers or so i had on lol

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  16. I wish I had seen it before it was demolished. My mother spent several years there in the 1950s with TB. She was cured when the drug streptomycin was introduced and she said the wards were cleared. It was a very sad place, I believe. Many people didn't survive and dad says he didn't think mum would ever come home alive. He used to take my brother and sister to visit her. They would wait in the car and wave to her where she was on the balcony.

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  17. Went there way too much when it was completely abandoned, before it was a popular exploration spot with security.
    Explored every inch of the place, paranormal activity was dismissed as just other explorers.
    (we had some fun scaring others)
    That said it was creepy the first few times!
    If anyones interested,
    I have a old address book that has employee's contact info.

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    1. I'm definitely interested in that old address book. I'd like to find them and interview them for a new mini-series I'm planning to make on haunted places. If they allow it of course. :)

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    2. mindy,
      flick over your email address and we'll go from there.
      Cheers,

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    3. I lived there for 15 years and worked there too.
      Was a beautiful place to live and a great place to work.
      There were many stories about ghost sightings particularly on night shift
      It was never a mental asylum

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  18. I remember visiting my grandmother at this facility when she developed alzhimers disease and was being nursed. She was a lovely lady, very kind and gentle. She passed away peacefully in the big building. I remember the rounded glass windows at the end. Everyone there was nice.

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  19. My Oma was Matron there in the 60s maybe. Always knew of it and often wanted to check it out but too scared to sneak in ��

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  20. My Oma was head matron there maybe in the 60/70s. Wish I had of seen it. Feels like I did as I have had dreams of this place

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  21. I pulled down all most of the out houses when I was in demolition I believe 3 different demolisher's went broke on the job and a crew from America finished the job in the end their would have been about 1.2 million in the copper pipes and scrap metal but before I went their a young bloke working for a domolisher was asked to sweep the floor were all the big Windows were in the round room he was only their for two hours I believe and went home and suicides the security that were their to keep people out swore they could see someone at the window on the second level I truly believe it was a bad place who went on the roof y was their that low railing at ankle height very convienent for some one to be tripped of the top and they got the furnaces down below

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  22. Hmm - recently went cycling there with my kids. I didnt know what this ppace was, googled and landed here. Im gonna think twice about taking kids here for cycling!!

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  23. I will disclose my name Greg Brassington, & I was the Mortician for years & porter .
    Sad that the Center closed as it was a good job with great staff .
    I made a lot of friends ,was the best job I ever had .

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  24. l was devastated when l found that the demolished the greenvale village. have some of my best memories at the village. l went to school at greenvale primary school and had friends that lived at the greenvale village. the snowdens and the taylors. we used to put on our xmas plays at the village theater for all the families and residents. wonderful memories. my father also worked there in the 50s. he had many a story.he used to have to take the deceased down to the morgue which back then was across the old dirt hole ridden carpark. like l said many stories. l find myself feeling drawn back to the place alot lately. even in my dreams. l wish l knew why ?

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  25. l was devastated when l found that the demolished the greenvale village. have some of my best memories at the village. l went to school at greenvale primary school and had friends that lived at the greenvale village. the snowdens and the taylors. we used to put on our xmas plays at the village theater for all the families and residents. wonderful memories. my father also worked there in the 50s. he had many a story.he used to have to take the deceased down to the morgue which back then was across the old dirt hole ridden carpark. like l said many stories. l find myself feeling drawn back to the place alot lately. even in my dreams. l wish l knew why ?

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  26. My family used to go mushroom picking here while I was a young kid(6-7) yes old. We loved running through the large pine forest that had a road running through it that lead to the hospital. A few times we made it up to the hospital grounds and played on the squeaky old metal play ground, in the backdrop of a huge large building At times I remember old people come out which we ran away from at the time. If you can imagine a horror film with a haunyed house in th woods, that's the feeling it gives me now . My friend moved into Greenvale tonight and we decided to drive down the road to see what was there.. what an eerie feeling, the road in is blocked, barricaded and looked haunted. I would love to walk through there during the day. I didn't know it was knocked down . Great memories.

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