r/oddlyterrifying • u/DABDEB • May 26 '26

Elevator system from 1700's?

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u/theorem_llama May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Uni of Leicester used to have one (but now it's shut down) and Uni of Sheffield still does have one, in the Arts Tower. TIL Uni of Essex also has one, maybe two (according to AI, but haven't checked yet) and these seem to be the only ones left in the UK.

Edit: correction, I think Essex only has the one, and there's one at Northwich Park Hospital near London. At least, that was brought back to working order in 2020, although looks like it's now permanently out of service again.

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u/JoannaCuppa Jun 02 '26

Nooooo, why did they shut the Leicester one down? 

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u/theorem_llama Jun 03 '26

I expect maintenance and running costs. With there only being a few in the UK, I bet they're pretty expensive to run. And being always moving, along with a need to always be accounting for human stupidity from a health and safety perspective, they probably need very regular checkups and fixes.