The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary’s logo

**The Sanctuary** is a medical rehabilitation centre run by the Ministry of Joy at Alton Towers. Run by their Chief of Medicine Doctor Kelman, The Sanctuary was initially in operation over fifty years ago before a series of controversies about the Ministry's methods forced it to close down. In 2012, the facility was re-opened to welcome in new advocates ahead of the Ministry's greatest project, which would open the following year.

## History

The Sanctuary was a recurring scare maze experience at Alton Towers which ran from 2012 to 2014 and introduced a number of key concepts for The Smiler's backstory, including the Ministry and the process of marmalisation.

The Sanctuary was announced in August 2012 and opened to extremely positive reviews, with much appreciation of the characters, set pieces and all out assault of the senses that the new maze offered. The Sanctuary was so successful during its initial run at Scarefest 2012 that when The Smiler's opening was delayed until May 2013, the park decided to reopen the maze for the start of the new season as a free attraction until the ride was completed.

The Sanctuary returned for Scarefest 2013 and 2014 before finally closing its doors.

## Experience

The Check In for the Sanctuary was found within Her Ladyship's Garden, where the Director of the Ministry of Joy spoke via video feed about welcoming in new advocates for their "revolutionary project" that would debut in 2013. Discussing the highly secretive work of the Ministry, the Director then introduced Doctor Kelman and it was explained that The Sanctuary provided "social compliance" treatment. A nurse within the conservatory then batched budding advocates into small groups before admitting them inside.

Once in the maze, Doctor Kelman would reveal further details of the therapies that take place in the facility while briefly mentioning briefly some of the controversies surrounding The Sanctuary and how they were previously closed down. Groups then entered the facility and were able to see first hand some of the treatments on offer as they met the first of the patients.

In the first room, a TV played an incoherent video before exploding in a ball of fire, at which the patient in the room became distressed at the loss of his TV. Moving on, advocates would find themselves in the kitchen, where some of the staff would wander amongst their overheating pots and pans, looking equally as terrifying as the patients within this imposing clinic. The staff would lead groups into the wards and the mysterious West Wing of the ruins. Here, advocates would discover the facility's operating theatre, with the mortuary a little too close by for comfort.

The only way forward from then was into a series of claustrophobic corridors, leading advocates to be split into smaller groups before going into a strobed cage maze with a twist to help complete their 'correction' before they could escape back into the real world.

## Trivia

* Doctor Kelman would reappear in the *Smile. Always* web series, being the Ministry member overseeing the treatment of Miles Cedars.
* The main "theme" of The Sanctuary that would play in the queue line was "Charmaine" by Mantovani And His Orchestra. Other pieces of music by artists such as Glenn Miller and The Ink Spots were used throughout the maze itself, with the final boss music from *Silent Hill 2* being used in the strobe maze finale.