The staircase leading to The Convalescence is filled with portraits of Ashbourne and its residents dating back to the 1900s; old buildings that no longer stand, faces long forgotten and a town that had always been infatuated with the tree that loomed over. Among the numerous black and white images is a portrait of a woman whose piercing gaze welcomes you to the supernatural world.
At a time where tuberculosis was a strange and new illness, the Sanatorium was built to find a cure. The construction was funded by Lady Sylvia Moore, one of the notable residents of Ashbourne who had also contracted the disease. Confining herself in the small hospital, Dr. George Miller fell for his patient and carried an affair, much to his wife’s dismay.
While stories circulated of Mrs. Miler making a fraudulent insurance claim that prompted her to commit arson, it is said that it was actually Lady Sylvia Moore who started the fire. After a miscarriage orchestrated by the doctor’s wife, Sylvia succumbed to madness and after escaping her chambers one night, she let the gas pipes leak and lit a match which resulted in the death of over fifty patients and staff members.
Years after the infamous fire, locals have reported hearing strange cries coming from the basement and those who were brave enough to explore say a woman can be seen in the old hospital, roaming, wailing and looking for her child.