Two Girls One Building

When we visited the building, very little was known to us about the site. It was recommended by a friend who had been past the site many times and had thought from the Tudor beams on the tower, the site could possibly be an abandoned farm house of sorts. We later found that not to be the case! A little research online showed that the site was previously Esso Research Centre Abingdon (ERCA). Most of the site has been demolished, but for some reason this building has been left remaining. I believe the site was built around the 1950, and was Esso's main technical center for fuels and lubricants. The site was purchased with planning permission back in 2016 by Tesco, who had plans to turn the site into a Dot-Com warehouse. The permission was opposed at the time, but was accepted with some conditions. These included archaeological investigation, contamination clause and commencement within three years. As this was published back in 2016, it can be assumed this is no longer going ahe

The main Victorian building on site was built in 1973 and originally used as the village vicars home. Over the years the site had been build up extensively, and turned into a hotel that boasted; sixty rooms, sauna, spa, swimming pool, beauty shop and gym. The site was popular with locals and held a number of wedding services. The decision to close in July 2016 was a shock to many. This was well documented by newspapers at the time as 45 workers suddenly found themselves unemployed and being unpaid for their time, and many customers were denied refunds for their future bookings. Staff even volunteered to stay and work one weekend for free so a wedding could go ahead, otherwise the bride would have been out of pocket, having also been refused a refund for her big day. The owner himself, a rumored millionaire was apparently unavailable for comment, having being holidaying at the time in Bermuda.  In July 2017 a controlled fire was started by contractors hired by a property developmen

Utopia was an 18th Century building, previously used as a health spa. (It's believed the original reason for sauna room, indoor swimming pool and jacuzzi area.) Which was later transformed into a couples swinging club from 2004 to 2007. The building had a number of differently themed rooms for their members, which included most notably the large dungeons. When abandoned in 2007 much of the building was furnished and intact. But unfortunately since then the club has been vandalized, a fire was started at the club in April 2018, causing massive structural damage. The five arsonists were arrested promptly. Most of the rooms upstairs are now inaccessible due to the damage, and some of the rooms, such as themed doctors room, 'The Red room' and other 'attractions' have been completely destroyed. The whole building was incredibly dark, with a lot of rubble and crumbling ceilings. Not the greatest for pictures I'm afraid! But be sure to check out our channel on YouTub