Urban explorer finds weird deserted UK residence become ‘shrine to Egyptian gods’

A group of so-called ‘urban explorers’ entered an abandoned house in the Midlands – only to be faced with a bizarre shrine to the ancient Egyptians.

Lee Wilkinson, 35, – who goes by ‘Urbex Uncovered’ online – and friends found the three-bedroom home and tested the door to see if it was unlocked. By a lucky chance, it was. Upon entering, however, they were shocked at the unexpected sight before them. They entered the living room to find it was full of antique art, and then were shocked to find a 4ft Tutankhamun mummy in the kitchen.

But it didn’t stop there, when they made their way upstairs, they discovered that each room had dozens of Egyptian trinkets and artefacts inside. There were pentagrams, papyrus, hieroglyphics on the wall, old storage boxes, sphinxes, Annubis statues and cobras.

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While not believed to be real, Lee estimates there were close to 1,000 Egyptian-related items in the house he explored. Hailing from Manchester and working as a buyer and seller, Lee explained: “This house really stood out – these shrines were immaculate in amongst the dirty cobwebbed rooms with rats.

“We didn’t really speak to each other throughout this because of what we’d seen – it was mad. There was papyrus and hieroglyphics all over the wall. Pentagrams, Egyptian paganism – all three bedrooms upstairs had these bits in.

“It was good quality expensive stuff. My mate’s been doing this for four years and he’s never seen anything like it – I’ve never seen anything like that either.”

But Lee wanted to assure that his actions were completely legal. He has previously seen backlash against his exploring, with many accusing his hobby of stealing items.

“Sometimes people think we are breaking in or we’re burglars but we’re not actually doing anything wrong. We go out once a week, sometimes twice and probably explore 10 places a week.”

Local councils often release papers about buildings closing due to lack of funding, something he studies. “Houses are hard to find – you’re sort of looking for things in the overgrowth on Google Maps. Zooming into each area slowly and studying the house for signs.”

He and his friends first scout out an area to see if it’s abandoned. If it is, they take it as a sign to enter.

“I find it quite relaxing.” The friends never steal or remove any items, and will only enter through unlocked doors and windows.

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