England has become famous for the many historical buildings and parks that are strewn over the nation’s 50,346 sq miles. One such example is St. Martin’s Church in Canterbury that dates back to 597AD and is the oldest continuously running church in England. A building of great religious and cultural importance, St. Martin’s Church has been well maintained over the centuries it has stood. Other buildings and parks have not been so lucky.

Griffin Lodge in Mill Hill, Blackburn with Darwen, was listed as a Grade II historic site on December 5, 1986. It is accompanied by 72 other Grade II* and Grade II buildings in Lancashire county. A Grade II listing represents a historic site of special interest with the utmost need of preservation. Built as a private home for Thomas Dugdale in 1824, it was sold to the Blackburn Corporation in 1937 to open it as a public park and museum. Due to extenuating circumstances, like WWII, care of the lodge was neglected.

Though the grounds of Griffin Lodge have been well maintained, the building itself fell victim to a fire in 2013 and 2014 leaving it all but destroyed. The building and grounds were recently acquired to be turned into a state of the art hospital. But before the multi-million pound project can commence, planners need to take a detailed survey of the site. To do this, they contracted Networx 3 UAV located out of Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen.

Networx3 provides a wide range of drone services including event filming, inspections, and building surveying. Depending on client needs, Networx3 operates 5 different drones: a DJI Inspire 1 RAW, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Pro Enterprise, Matrice 210 V2 RTK, and a Flyability Elios 2. The company also has a custom built van to transport all drone equipment to a site.

Ian Ashworth, Managing Director and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) registered and GVC certified pilot for Networx3 led the Griffin Lodge drone survey this past summer. “Most local people in Blackburn will have walked past Griffin Lodge in recent years and thought ‘what a pity’ at its sorry state,” Ian said. But with the drone footage he captured, a whole new image of the lodge could be seen. Walking by Griffin Lodge, you can see graffiti, broken and boarded windows, smoke damage, and overgrown vegetation. From above, you can see just how dire of a state the building is in.

Using a DJI Matrice 210 and Elios Flyability, Ian captured images that show nearly all of the roofs of the lodge missing, walls in shambles, floors in danger of collapse, and severe weather and fire damage. Using the drones, Ian was able to gather all of this data without an inspector having to risk their safety by entering the precarious building.

“Flying a drone over it, swooping through broken windows, and hovering beside collapsed walls has given surveyors and developers an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the state of disrepair,” Ian said. “The high-definition photos and video we produced will give a critical starting point to bring this unloved shell back to a vibrant and useful public building once again.” The developers plan to repair and retain Griffin Lodge’s facade and coach house, adding on a whole new medical center. With drone imaging, this derelict historic building will be given a new life.

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