All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S05E08.Curse.of.Satans.Catacombs.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

*

Narrator: a secret allied base
Deep in enemy territory.

So, this place not only has
A history of the guerrilla camp,

But, also, as a waypoint
For people escaping capture.

*

Narrator:
A notorious haunted asylum
That enforced brutal treatment

On a terrifying scale.

Surgeons would literally go into
The brain and experiment

With damaging or severing
Certain parts of the brain.

With damaging or severing
Certain parts of the brain.

Narrator: the subterranean home
Of a secret society

With an american founding father
Amongst its ranks.

This is a strange, spooky place,
But it has an incredible history

Of glamour, celebrity,
Scandal, and debauchery.

*

Narrator: decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Forged through years of toil.

Forged through years of toil.

Now haunted by the past,

Their secrets
Waiting to be revealed.

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

On the balkan peninsula
Of europe

Is what's known
As the land of the eagle.

Deep in the hills
Of southern albania

Are the dramatic remnants
Of a secretive history.

Are the dramatic remnants
Of a secretive history.

Corum:
Albania's a mountainous

And, in some ways, beautiful
And desolate region.

This is a mysterious place.

For much of the last century,

It was hidden away
Behind closed doors.

Isolated, and it retains
A certain mystique even today.

There's still a lot of things
To be explored in this area.

A lot of secrets to be uncovered
From those decades.

A lot of secrets to be uncovered
From those decades.

Narrator: this isolation
Was born out of a conflict

That touched
Every corner of europe.

Clinging to the hillside
Overlooking the bay of vlore

Is a relic
Of this troubled time.

This village produced 45 of what
Albanians called martyrs --

Heroes of world war ii.

This tiny village has
A phenomenal tale to tell.

This tiny village has
A phenomenal tale to tell.

Narrator: a few miles away
Is a mysterious cave

Linked to this village

And connected
To a remarkable escape story.

That is a machine-gun tripod.

That's the smoking gun.

This is their guerrilla home.

This is their cathedral.

Narrator: but what were british
And american secret agents

Doing in this remote backwater?

This is
A classic world war ii story.

You've got spies, resistance,
Smugglers, heroes, villains.

You've got spies, resistance,
Smugglers, heroes, villains.

This has got it all.

*

Narrator: this humble-looking
Settlement would play a key role

In secret operations
Led by british s.O.E.

And american o.S.S. Agents
During world war ii.

They chose this village

As a base from which
To wage a guerrilla war.

Ex-special forces operative
Klint janulis

Wants to understand why.

Wants to understand why.

I served in iraq
In the special forces,

And the u.S. Special forces are
Guerrilla warfare specialists.

I'm here to understand
Why the precursors

To the modern spec ops units

Decided to choose this
Abandoned, destroyed village

As a base of operations,

Because it was those groups
Like the o.S.S. And s.O.E.

That basically wrote the
Playbook on guerrilla warfare

That we still use today.

Narrator: set up during the war,
These organizations

Coordinated espionage activities
Behind enemy lines,

Coordinated espionage activities
Behind enemy lines,

But to take a closer look
At this former base

In such rugged terrain
Requires some serious wheels.

Driving up here, I was trying
To put myself in the position

Of an attacking soldier,

And I realized just
How terrifying that would be

Because getting up here,
You see the fortified positions.

*

Wow.

This place looks like it
Was designed to be a fortress.

This place looks like it
Was designed to be a fortress.

This is a sniper point,
Sniper point.

You could even have
Small artillery pieces up here

And be protected and secure,

And you have a view
Of the entire valley

From this exact location.

This is where I would want
To fight a guerrilla battle

Against an invading force
Down that valley.

*

Narrator: up close, the village
Displays all the hallmarks

Of a battleground.

Janulis: it's obvious that
There's been combat here.

The mortar on these walls here
Have these pockmarks in them.

The mortar on these walls here
Have these pockmarks in them.

Some of them look like
The pockmarks

You'd see from the impact
Of a bullet.

Some look like the ones
You'd see from artillery,

Which are gonna be
More dispersed

And sort of chaotic-looking.

The other
Really important question for me

Is, who attacked?

Where did they come from?

Because just behind these
Two massive fortifications

Is a funnel of death for anybody
Trying to get into that village.

Narrator: klint's meeting
Sofokli daupaj

Whose family lived here

Before they were displaced
By this carnage.

Before they were displaced
By this carnage.

Interpreter:
This tile carries the names

Of my great-grandfather

And of
My great-great-grandfather.

[ reading
In foreign language ]

[ speaking native language ]

*

[ speaking native language ]

They had three rooms --
One here,

A second here, and a third here.

We are at the house
Of my ancestors --

The house of my grandfather,
Great-grandfather,

And of my
Great-great-grandfather.

And of my
Great-great-grandfather.

As you see, what remains
Is only the ruins.

This is because of
The second world war.

Narrator:
This is tragjas, a settlement

That dates back
To the 6th century b.C.

And once home to hundreds of
Albanian families

Just like sofokli's

With a proud tradition
Of resisting foreign invaders.

This is a place that has been
A center of conflict

This is a place that has been
A center of conflict

And on the border
Of conflict for centuries.

These are people who have not
Had a large connection

To the outside world,
So they're very insular.

They don't like
A heavy-handed foreign rule.

Narrator:
For centuries, these villagers

Were fending off
Turkish raiders.

In 1847,
As part of a rural rebellion,

The people of tragjas
Distinguished themselves,

Beating back men
Of the ottoman empire.

So, did turkey's military forces
Take revenge on tragjas?

So, did turkey's military forces
Take revenge on tragjas?

To get to the bottom
Of the conflict

That left sofokli's
Family displaced,

Klint is heading out
To vlore bay,

An area littered
With the wreckage of war.

For me, I want to understand

Both sides of the equation --
The guerrilla warfare,

Why a little tiny village
Like tragjas

Had so much investment in
Special operations activities

And out here in this bay,

Where we had large
Maritime things going on.

Where we had large
Maritime things going on.

And I want to check out
This shipwreck

Because that's gonna
Help me understand

The conventional side.

*

As you move through
The murky waters

Emerging into different parts
Of the ship,

You can almost imagine
The people

Walking around,
Going about their business.

Holy cow.

That was amazing.

That was absolutely incredible.

You could see all the holes
In the ship.

You could see the outline.

You can see
Where the engine was --

Or looked like an engine.

Man.

It was
Perfectly crystal clear.

That was fantastic.

That's the best shipwreck
I've ever, ever had

The opportunity to check out.

Narrator:
Yet exploring the wreckage

Further throws up
Some surprises.

Which high-profile passenger
Was this ship carrying?

Which high-profile passenger
Was this ship carrying?

And how is it linked
To the attack on tragjas?

*

*

Narrator: ex-special forces
Operative klint janulis

Is investigating the decimated
Village of tragjas

In southern albania.

It shows evidence of attack
By a mechanized force.

Klint has traveled a few miles
Down to the bay

To explore a wreck

Which he hopes will shed light
On the invader's identity.

This ship has been the victim
Of a devastating attack.

This ship has been the victim
Of a devastating attack.

But this doesn't look
Like a warship.

There's no sign of guns
Or turrets.

So what happened?

Narrator: this ship is testament
To a time

Before world war ii broke out,

When dictator benito mussolini
Caught the world by surprise,

Targeting the main ports,
Including vlore bay,

Which sits
Just beneath tragjas.

Corum: mussolini was looking at
Expanding this italian empire.

Corum: mussolini was looking at
Expanding this italian empire.

Albania was an easy grab
For the italians.

Mussolini wanted
This piece of territory

That was just across
The adriatic from italy.

Narrator:
When mussolini's forces

Crossed albania's
Southern border into greece,

Great britain stepped in
And began

Targeting italian ships
In the region.

In march 1941,
the 135-meter-long po

Became the victim of a raid
By torpedo bombers.

Became the victim of a raid
By torpedo bombers.

Bell: in the darkness
And with its lights off,

The british airmen believed this
Was a legitimate wartime target.

They had no idea
What this ship actually was

And who was on board.

narrator: the po was, in fact,
a hospital ship

Evacuating wounded
Italian soldiers

From the greek-albanian front.

Meigs: by coincidence,

One of the nurses
Aboard this hospital ship

One of the nurses
Aboard this hospital ship

Was mussolini's own daughter.

Narrator: edda ciano,
Mussolini's daughter, survived,

But the sinking was part
Of a campaign

That was soon escalating
Out of italy's control.

The italians are losing
On every front.

The equipment, leadership,
Morale is breaking down.

They're trying to maintain
Their control of key areas

And certainly the coastal region
In albania

Is considered
By the italians as a key area.

Is considered
By the italians as a key area.

Narrator:
The albanian resistance

Sensed an opportunity,

And tragjas became both a base

And supply point
For local guerrillas

Taking the fight
To the italians.

Corum: the guerrillas decide
To make a fight of it.

And in this case,
They do very, very well,

And they cause
Very heavy casualties

Because, in this terrain,

It's ideally suited
For guerrilla-style defense.

Narrator: klint has returned
To tragjas to investigate

Narrator: klint has returned
To tragjas to investigate

Why it became a focal point
Of this resistance movement.

Essentially I'm making a sort

Of logistical reconnaissance
Of this village.

The tactical advantages
Of this village

Are pretty obvious right away --

Thick walls; rough terrain;
Good, strong buildings.

But, really, what I'm interested
In is the logistics.

Armies win and lose
Based on logistics.

In the logistics war,
Water is crucial,

In the logistics war,
Water is crucial,

And this isn't just a well.

This is a natural spring,

Which means hydrostatic
Pressure's pushing water out.

They've got water year-round.

Anybody attacking
From up the hill,

They'd have to haul
Their water up.

Now, this is cool.

This reminds me a lot
Of greek villages I've been in

That were designed to be windy
And mazy

Basically to defend
Against pirates,

Which meant anybody that
Was trying to come in and attack

By foot
Would get run through quarters

By foot
Would get run through quarters

And mazes and funnel points,
Which we call funnels of death.

Narrator:
With these advantages,

Guerrillas were making life
For italy's occupying forces

A nightmare,

Picking off troops
And harassing infantry columns

With hit-and-run raids.

Soon the constant
Skirmishing came to a head

As italian colonel
Franco clementi

Brought in a division to
Re-establish control of tragjas

And four other villages
In the area.

And four other villages
In the area.

On new year's day, 1943, there
Was a massive pitched battle,

Where 2,000
Very well-equipped italians

Were beaten by the local
Albanian guerrilla forces.

This david-versus-goliath battle
Ended in victory

For the albanians.

Narrator: despite bolstering his
Numbers to well over 5,000 men,

Outnumbering
The albanians 3 to 1,

Colonel clementi was killed,

Colonel clementi was killed,

And his forces suffered
A humiliating defeat.

But repercussions soon followed
For tragjas.

Mussolini's forces returned
To take their revenge --

This time on civilians.

[ speaking native language ]

Interpreter:
Italians came here first.

And it is said they even hit
The village with mortar fire

From the mountain peak of shapu
Above the village of orikum.

Then, when they burned
The village,

They alienated
The villagers even further.

They alienated
The villagers even further.

Narrator: despite these
Reprisals, the italian presence

Was disintegrating.

So the allies sent covert units

To support
These local resistance fighters

Against mussolini's
Crumbling occupation...

But, also, the nazis,
Who were closing in on albania.

British agent gerry field
Based his team here in tragjas.

Gerry field was this very
Daring operative for the s.O.E.,

Gerry field was this very
Daring operative for the s.O.E.,

And he came in
With a small group of men

And initially set up shop
Right in tragjas

And worked with
The local partisans,

Relayed information back
To the british,

Tried to supply local partisans
Who were fighting the nazis,

And basically trying
To figure out

How to do as much damage
To the germans as possible.

Narrator: his principal task was
To smuggle arms in from italy,

Which had now been invaded
By the allies.

Which had now been invaded
By the allies.

Once the americans
And british land in 1943

And occupy southern italy,

It's only a very short hop from
A major italian port like bari

Across the adriatic
Into albania.

It's very easy
To supply guerrillas by boat.

Narrator:
Yet klint has discovered

That british secret agents
Suddenly abandoned tragjas.

He's been given coordinates
For a location

That will help him
Understand why.

That will help him
Understand why.

Even today,
It's really hard to find.

It's not on the map.

And most locals
Don't know where it is

Or that it even exists.

*

I didn't expect to find this,

And this tells quite a lot

Because this is
A british machine-gun mount,

And it says right here,
"Mark iv, 1942."

And then you have the ability
To mount

A really heavy machine gun
On this,

And anybody coming up that hill
Would have faced

And anybody coming up that hill
Would have faced

A barrage of gunfire.

But, also, this thing is heavy.

I've carried
Machine-gun mounts before.

We can't be too far from
The cave. We're getting close.

Okay.

This isn't just a rock overhang.

This goes really deep.

*

Oh, this has got to be
The place.

That is a machine-gun tripod.

That is a machine-gun tripod.

That's the smoking gun.

This is their guerilla home.

This is their cathedral.

Narrator:
But how is this cave

Linked to a remarkable
American escape story?

And who brought their wrath
On tragjas?

*

Narrator: klint janulis
Has discovered a secret cave

Used by british agents
During world war ii.

Just looking at this
Makes me really think,

"Yeah, it's a great
Guerrilla hideout,

But this is potentially
A really horrible death trap.

A couple hand grenades
Thrown down in here,

And look at all these.

These are gonna just --
You'll just die

Under a massive stalactite.

Under a massive stalactite.

And that is something I'm sure
They thought about constantly.

It could have just even been
As simple as a bomb

Landing just overhead the cave.

Imagine being right here,
And a 500-pound bomb lands.

[ imitates explosion ]

*

Narrator: agent field led
His team down from the mountains

Above tragjas
To this seaview cave...

A perfectly camouflaged hideaway
Near a dogleg cove

A perfectly camouflaged hideaway
Near a dogleg cove

Used to smuggle arms
And supplies into albania.

For months on end, field
And his team survived here

On mule meat and rainwater.

I can't imagine how surreal
It would have been

To live here every day

And then go fight, pick up
Illicit supplies from the coast,

Go sabotage the enemy,
And then come back to this,

And have a meal of hot mule.

Narrator: forced out of tragjas
In september 1943,

Narrator: forced out of tragjas
In september 1943,

When the nazis
Rolled into albania,

They now had
To coordinate resistance

From this extraordinary cave.

But it would soon prove
More than just a secret base,

Playing a key role
In an incredible escape story.

An american plane that was
Carrying 13 american nurses

Ran low on fuel
And got lost in bad weather.

They crash-landed in a field
In the middle of albania

In the middle of winter.

Narrator: trapped in
Nazi-occupied territory

Narrator: trapped in
Nazi-occupied territory

With no food or supplies,

Local partisans smuggled them
Out of the albanian interior,

Across the snowy mountains
Towards the coast.

They had to dodge
German patrols.

At one point, they got caught up

When the germans were invading
A particular town,

Or the group got split up,
But they all survived

And were able to keep moving on.

Narrator: eventually connecting
With the s.O.E.,

They brought the nurses
To this cave.

And klint,
Himself a combat medic,

Believes he may have found
Evidence of their stay here.

Believes he may have found
Evidence of their stay here.

This is world war ii
Medical gauze.

It looks just like
The medical gauze we use today.

From a med kit
From 76 years ago.

Wow.

You can even see the cotton
Stitching in it still.

That's pretty cool.

Narrator: the following day,

Agents led the nurses
To their secret cove,

Agents led the nurses
To their secret cove,

Where an american boat
Was waiting to extract them

To allied-controlled italy.

So, after walking hundreds
Of miles, middle of winter,

Through some of the roughest
Terrain I can imagine,

The nurses managed to hook up
With the s.O.E.

And were fortunate enough

To be able to have arranged
Transportation that day.

So they came down this
Crazy ravine and valley

That I just walked.

And the first thing they see

Is this gorgeous
Smuggler's cove,

And that's their ticket home.

So, in the end,
They wound up traveling

So, in the end,
They wound up traveling

Between 600 and 800 miles

On this incredible
Survival escape march.

It's one of the great
Survival stories

Of world war ii.

Narrator: but while the nurses
Were heading home, the villagers

And partisans
Were left in a war zone.

This was home.
There was no escape.

Klint wants to find out
What happened to them

After field's unit left tragjas.

How did the nazis respond
When they found out

How did the nazis respond
When they found out

About the heavy
Resistance movement

Going on right here
In this village?

[ speaking
Native language ]

Interpreter:
They came in, and they burned.

They've ruined everything.

You can see --
Only ruins remain here.

That's why the population
Abandoned the village

And resettled elsewhere.

They were left with nothing here
But bare walls and ruins.

The germans decided to raze
This village to the ground,

While the british
And american agents

That have been working
With villagers

Were sitting on these hillsides,

Were sitting on these hillsides,

Watching as this group that they
Had known, cared about,

Lost every single thing
They had in one fell swoop.

Narrator: the nazis left the
Settlement engulfed in flames.

Sofo explains how this spurred
His family to take action.

Interpreter: my eldest uncle
Joined the partisans --

The 5th brigade.

He even went with them to fight
The germans up to yugoslavia.

I really loved hearing
Sofo's story

I really loved hearing
Sofo's story

Because it reminds me

That in little tiny villages all
Over europe just like this one,

Everyday people had
To make decisions

About whether or not they were
Gonna resist and fight.

They were working
With the s.O.E.

And the office
Of strategic services,

And doing so at great risk
To their families' life,

Their lives,
And their communities' lives.

*

Narrator: today, a memorial
To the partisans

Narrator: today, a memorial
To the partisans

Stands amongst the rubble.

A monument
To their brave resistance

Against fascist invaders.

*

Deep in the heart
Of west virginia

On the banks of the fork river

Sits an enormous structure
With a horrifying story to tell.

It's an incredibly
Imposing building,

Like something
From the colonial era.

Like something
From the colonial era.

It looks like it was laid out
For some vast civic purpose.

Then there's a whole lot
Of other buildings around it,

Almost like it's some kind
Of a college campus.

You can see that it was
A major project in its day.

Narrator: inside are clues
That paint a confusing picture

Of this strange site's purpose.

There's something a bit eerie
About the juxtaposition

Between the children's toys

And the serious
Medical instruments.

When you look inside,
It's a mess.

When you look inside,
It's a mess.

I mean, clearly
It's abandoned, neglected.

There's peeling paint.

There's bars
Over some windows and doors.

It has a forbidding quality.

Narrator: this was clearly
A site designed to contain,

But not for those
Convicted of a crime.

Mitchell: this place emerged out
Of an enlightened view.

It was meant to be a haven

For people who were
Cast out from the world.

Meigs: well, what started
As a really noble experiment

Quickly degenerated

Quickly degenerated

Into a real horror show
Of abuse.

Narrator: what turned this dream
Into a nightmare?

And who were the inhabitants

That were forced
To call this place home?

*

*

Narrator: construction here
Began in the mid-1800s.

In time, the halls would witness
Atrocities that left their mark

On the building
And the surrounding community.

Its purpose was
The management

Of the clinically insane.

And nearly two centuries ago,

Mental illness was viewed
With disturbing suspicion.

Those exhibiting its signs

Those exhibiting its signs

Were considered
To be possessed by demons.

The treatment of mental health
Back in the early 19th century

Was almost worse
Than a death sentence.

Families with members

Who had mental-health problems
Often hid them away.

Those who weren't lucky enough
To be able to do that

Had their relatives
Simply carted off and locked up.

Mental health was never
Really understood,

And there were a lot
Of supernatural explanations.

I mean, even the word "Lunatic"
Comes from an idea

That it was
Somehow inspired by the moon.

That it was
Somehow inspired by the moon.

*

Narrator: but one
Forward-thinking doctor

Would stand
As a beacon of hope.

His name
Was dr. Thomas kirkbride.

Selwood: dr. Kirkbride
Was one of those rare reformers.

He saw a new way, a new world

In which people could be treated
And cared for and cured.

And key to that was

The provision of a healthy,
Open, normal environment.

The provision of a healthy,
Open, normal environment.

This place was gonna be
His masterpiece.

Narrator: this is the
Trans-allegheny lunatic asylum.

Meigs:
In the mid-19th century,

Ideas about mental illness
Were finally changing,

And the asylum was designed

As a place for the most
Progressive scientific

And humane treatment
Of the mentally ill.

Kirkbride wanted to move away
From the prevailing model

Kirkbride wanted to move away
From the prevailing model

In which the mentally ill
Might be chained in city jails,

And so, instead, one of the main
Buildings is this huge structure

That was designed
So that sunlight and air

Could easily come in, as opposed
To sort of damp, dank cells.

Narrator: originally intended
To house 250 people,

Patients were given the freedom

To walk the long,
Bright corridors

And enjoy the lovingly
Manicured grounds.

And enjoy the lovingly
Manicured grounds.

But before long,
Kirkbride's idealistic vision

Would be twisted beyond
All recognition.

Understanding of mental illness

Was still
Very much in its infancy.

Patients were being referred
With conditions like fits

Or superstition, or loss
Of limbs, or even asthma.

This is a time period
In which women

Who behave
In unconventional ways

Could be deemed insane
And sent away.

A whole range of people
Who did not necessarily conform

A whole range of people
Who did not necessarily conform

To societal expectations
Might be considered

As having a nervous condition
That required treatment.

Narrator:
At its height, the asylum

Was overrun
With 2,600 patients --

Over 10 times its capacity.

As the number increased,
So did the depths of depravity,

As rebecca gleeson,
Who manages the site,

Has discovered.

Gleeson: unfortunately because
Of all the different people

That were coming in
And not able to leave,

That were coming in
And not able to leave,

They weren't getting fixed,

It became like warehousing.

Mitchell: not only did such
Overcrowding lead to people

Sleeping on the floors --

But it completely worked against
The therapeutic atmosphere

That the asylum
Was meant to engender.

Narrator:
Yet worse was still to come.

Soon the hospital was flooded

With dangerous criminally insane
Inmates from nearby prisons.

We have to remember that there
Are so many different types

Of patients that were here.

Of patients that were here.

You've got mentally
Challenged patients.

You've got someone suffering
From depression,

Bipolar disorder, major
Depression, schizophrenia --

All different types
Of aspects of mental illness.

And then you have
The criminal predator

That was added.
To the situation, as well.

It sounds like it became
A hellish place to be.

There were actually murders,
There were assaults,

And I can imagine just an
Atmosphere of fear all the time.

And I can imagine just an
Atmosphere of fear all the time.

Narrator: but the extreme
Violence and terrible conditions

Were just the tip
Of the iceberg.

Understanding of the brain
And mental disorders --

It was still very rudimentary,
And treatments

Were experimental
And often brutal.

And in the 1950s, the treatments
Would become even more grotesque

When the center became the home

Of the west virginia
Lobotomy project.

Narrator: the man behind it was
A doctor named walter freeman,

Narrator: the man behind it was
A doctor named walter freeman,

Also known as the father
Of lobotomy.

Gleeson:
To perform an ice pick lobotomy,

They would take
This long, sharp piece,

And they would point it towards
The corner of your eye.

They would ting it once
To break through your skull,

And the second time to basically
Get into your prefrontal lobe,

And they'd go back and forth

Something like a windshield
Wiper does in your vehicle.

Something like a windshield
Wiper does in your vehicle.

The belief was that patients
Who suffered

From obsessive behaviors had
Fixed circuits in their brains.

Surgeons would sweep the rods
From side to side

And physically cut
The connections.

Narrator: a barbaric practice
To modern eyes,

Back then, even the relative
Of a u.S. President

Would have the procedure.

But how would it end?

*

*

Narrator: at the trans-allegheny
Lunatic asylum in west virginia,

Gruesome lobotomies were once
The chosen treatment

For its inmates.

Considered cutting edge
At the time,

Even the sister of former
American president jfk

Endured this treatment.

Gleeson: rosemary kennedy had
Her operation by freeman,

And she was lobotomized.

And she was lobotomized.

She ended up spending
The rest of her life --

50-plus years --
In a mental hospital

Only being able to mumble
A couple words

And not anything
Comprehensively.

Had this procedure
Not been done to her brain,

She might not necessarily
Have had been institutionalized.

It just left
Many of these patients

A shell of their former selves.

They sat around passively.

So, maybe they weren't raging,
You know, in hallucinations,

So, maybe they weren't raging,
You know, in hallucinations,

But they also weren't anything
Like a healthy person

With an intact mind.

How any surgeon,
Let alone a brain surgeon,

Could have thought that sticking
A metal rod through the eye

And rummaging it around
In the brain indiscriminately

Was helpful is beyond belief.

Narrator:
For many of the patients

That entered this asylum,
Most would never leave.

The only area
That was ever expanded

The only area
That was ever expanded

To accommodate the people
Was the graveyard.

Gleeson:
We're in our morgue.

Unfortunately thousands of
People died at the asylum

Over the last 130 years.

Now, this freezer here,
Basically two bodies

Would lay in there
And be able to stay cool.

Now, at one point in time,

The walls were lined
With these refrigerators.

Narrator: but in 1994, its doors
Were finally closed,

The years of neglect
Having finally taken their toll.

The years of neglect
Having finally taken their toll.

You can only imagine
How horrified dr. Kirkbride

Would have been
If he'd seen what became

Of his visionary asylum
That he had so many hopes for,

And it turned into
Really such a hellhole

That didn't help patients

And, in many cases,
Made them worse.

*

Narrator: today, the hospital
Still lies abandoned

As a disturbing
Reminder of the pain

As a disturbing
Reminder of the pain

And suffering contained
Within these walls.

Mitchell:
It's an eerie place to visit.

Some of those horrors
Just don't go away.

They live on in the space
In some way, shape, or form.

*

Narrator: 30 miles west of
London is a scene typical

Of the english countryside.

But here, set amongst
The rolling hills,

Is an opening
To a subterranean world.

*

*

There's this incredible
Gothic entrance,

But then, when you enter,
You go deeper underground,

And you end up in
These sinister-looking caves.

*

Selwood: dark chambers
With heavy metal gates

Almost like cells
Are hidden away.

Gough: this is a strange
And spooky place,

Gough: this is a strange
And spooky place,

But yet it has this
Incredible history of glamour

And celebrities and dignitaries,

But, above all, debauchery.

Narrator: what stories would
Make these caves infamous?

And how would one
Of america's founding fathers

Become embroiled
In the controversy?

*

The origins of these
Subterranean passageways date

The origins of these
Subterranean passageways date

To the mid-1700s.

Concealed within are tales
Of pagan ritual, the dark arts,

And scandalous depravity.

Jack orr is a historian
At the site.

Orr: these caves go
A quarter of a mile underground.

And the thing that's
So incredible about it

Is that it's not at all natural
In any way.

It's completely, 100% man-made,

Which 250 years ago,

Which 250 years ago,

That's just an incredible feat
Of human engineering.

Selwood: the elaborate network
Excavated to provide the chalk

That would help to build
The great west road

To link this area and london.

What these caves became
Is actually shocking.

It sounds like a thing of myth
And legend,

But this is real life.

So, we're about to go into
The heart of the caves,

So, we're about to go into
The heart of the caves,

And this is where
The very mundane story

Becomes slightly more macabre.

Narrator:
These are the hellfire caves,

Home to one of the most
Secretive societies

In british history.

The hellfire club was made up
Of some of the most famous

And respected men of the age.

At its forefront
Was the owner of the caves,

Sir francis dashwood.

Sir francis dashwood
Was a rather wealthy man.

Sir francis dashwood
Was a rather wealthy man.

He was born into landed gentry.

And just like other men
Of his status at that time,

He spent his final years
Of education

Visiting the royal courts
Of europe,

Sampling the intellectual arts

And all of the treasures
That the continent had to offer.

Selwood: it was in italy
That he found his true passion,

And it was here
That sir francis dashwood

Began to revel in the study
Of the forbidden arts,

Particularly
The eleusinian mysteries,

Particularly
The eleusinian mysteries,

Which were the most famous

Secret ancient greek
Initiation cults.

Narrator:
Inspired by what he had learned,

Dashwood returned home

And set up the exclusive club
On his family estate.

What happened inside
Was shrouded in mystery.

*

Narrator: outside london
Are the hellfire caves,

Once home to a secret society.

There were lots of rumors of
Nefarious deeds.

It was whispered
That men practiced

All manner of black magic

And satanic rites
In these caves.

Scott: it wasn't just
Dark satanic worship

That the members liked to do.

They also knew how to party.

They also knew how to party.

*

Selwood: women were brought in
From london

To join the frolics dressed
As nuns, and comely local nymphs

Were hired
And allegedly laid out on altars

So men could lick holy wine
From their navels.

In the hellfire club's days,
There would have been curtains

Across beds inside this chamber.

If you look at the back wall,

We still have
The original tally marks

We still have
The original tally marks

From where the men
Were keeping score

When they took
Their prostitutes inside here.

Narrator:
Incredibly, the shocking antics

Of this sinful society
Were carried out

By some of the most
Prestigious men of the day.

In time, that would include

One of the most
Influential figures

Of the fledgling united states.

Some of the members of the
Hellfire club were very famous,

Some of the members of the
Hellfire club were very famous,

But one of the most
Famous members

Was william hogarth, the artist.

And some of his art
Is actually down our caves.

But the odd thing is, is
The most devilish figure

Who matched dashwood
In debauchery

Was actually an american.

Scott: benjamin franklin,

One of the founding fathers
Of the united states,

Was a good friend
Of the dashwoods,

And he would frequently
Visit the u.K.,

And he would frequently
Visit the u.K.,

And when he did, he would attend
These scandalous parties

Deep underground.

Franklin loved the fun, prankish
Nature of the club

That he found here.

He often wrote home
To his friends in philadelphia

About dashwood and his friends.

One of the letters even said,
"Dashwood's genius

Is just as apparent
Above the earth

As it is below the earth."

Narrator: with much to lose,

The powerful men
Went to great lengths

The powerful men
Went to great lengths

To make certain word
Of their nefarious activities

Stayed hidden.

To try
And protect their reputations,

Members of the hellfire club
Took assumed identities.

Orr: your reputation
Was everything in those days.

You say the wrong thing,
And you're out.

And devil worshipping,
Keeping anything

About black magic,
Any of those sort of books --

That was still illegal.

That was still a crime.

Gough: much of what happened
There is unknown,

And a lot of the documentation
Has been burnt or destroyed

And a lot of the documentation
Has been burnt or destroyed

In order to cover up
The scandal.

Narrator: yet even though
The members of the hellfire club

Were sworn to secrecy,

Word soon got out.

It seems the antics
Of the hellfire club

Was somehow leaked
To the public.

Rumor has it that it was
An old member of the club

That exposed it
For what it really was.

Selwood: the public outrage
Took its toll.

Selwood: the public outrage
Took its toll.

So, in 1766, the club
Was closed down.

Narrator: with the doors
To this sordid den of depravity

Now closed, dashwood

Was said to have lived a more
Wholesome life until his death

In 1781.

Orr:
This incredible flint structure

Is another creation
Of dashwood.

It's the mausoleum
For his family.

But like everything, there is
A darker side to this creation.

But like everything, there is
A darker side to this creation.

Narrator: dashwood and his four
Wives were all buried here,

But, strangely, so was one other
Member of the hellfire club.

Scott:
There used to be an urn

In the middle
Of this mausoleum,

And in that urn
Was the heart of paul whitehead.

And he was a former poet

And the head steward
Of the hellfire club.

Narrator: paul's heart laid here
Peacefully for nearly a century

Narrator: paul's heart laid here
Peacefully for nearly a century

Until the victorian era.

Orr: now, the victorians
Were weird.

They loved death.
They loved gore.

So they made this
A tourist attraction.

Selwood:
It's rumored that his heart

Was stolen
By australian visitors

Around 100 years ago,
And ever since, people say

They've seen him wandering
The caves and the hills,

Holding the place where
His heart should have been,

Looking for it in the grounds.

*

*

Narrator:
Today, the hellfire caves
Are still open to the public,

And for those wanting to channel
The spirit of dashwood,

They can even be hired
For private parties.

Orr: because of the dark,
Debaucherous history

Of the hellfire club,

They have left this lingering
Legacy behind,

And now we are meant to be
One of the most haunted sites

In all of england.

*