The South Kirkby Health Centre on Barnsley Road once served as a vital medical hub, offering treatments, advice and vaccinations to the local community.
However, the centre’s closure was initiated in 2012 with the opening of a new health centre at Langthwaite House, Langthwaite Road, serving South Kirkby and South Elmsall.
Since then, the old clinic has suffered from repeated vandalism and multiple fires.
In December 2020, the building’s future seemed promising when plans were approved to transform it into a Co-op store.
Yet by March 2022, Central England Co-op announced it had withdrawn interest in leasing the site, stating:
“We never owned this site but, previously, had been in talks to take on the lease for a new store subject to planning permission. However, we have since decided that will no longer pursing plans for a store at the site.”
With redevelopment plans abandoned, the health centre remains derelict, continuing to attract criticism from local residents who describe it as an “eyesore.”
Urban explorer group Lost Places & Forgotten Faces has captured the building’s current neglected state through this series of photographs.

7. South Kirkby Health Centre
South Kirkby Health Centre is a dilapidated and derelict former medical centre. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

8. NYWE-05-01-2024-Medical Centre4-YOR
The abandoned medical centre, on Barnsley Road, has been trashed. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

9. Constant eyesore
The site has been described as a 'constant eyesore' for the town of the South Kirkby. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

10. Boarded up
It is unclear when the building first started operations but over the years it proved vital to the treatment of medical issues such as the common cold, flu, providing flu jabs and vaccinations. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

11. To be explored
The derelict building is now only visited by youths and urban explorers. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

12. Co-op criticism
One long-standing critic of the Co-op's original plans accused the business of "creating a hive of anti-social behaviour" after the company pulled out of the deal. Photo: Lost Places & Forgotten Faces

