It's been lying abandoned and disused for half a century.
Now, the site of a former New South Wales girls' school with a dark history has become a favourite haunt of YouTubers and TikTokkers who call themselves "urban explorers".
Set amongst hectares of picturesque countryside in the NSW Southern Highlands, thousands of young women were once educated at the Sydney Church of England Girls School (SCEGGS) in Moss Vale.
But it's a violent event that the school is most well known for.
A horrific murder took place at the prestigious school in 1961, when "comic book killer" Leonard Lawson shot dead a 15-year-old student in the chapel during a hostage situation.
These days, social media sites are littered with photos and videos taken inside the old classrooms, hall and science laboratories at the so-called "notorious" and "haunted" school.
The posts serve the unintended purpose of documenting the gradual destruction of the heritage-listed site over the years.
Recent photos show the buildings covered in graffiti and the floors littered with rubbish and broken glass from smashed windows.
As former pupils prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of the school closing this year, they have expressed dismay at the devastation wrought by vandals to the property.
"Looking at the recent photos you can see that it's been absolutely trashed," Ann Fieldhouse, a former student of SCEGGS Moss Vale, told 9news.com.au.
"I know that a lot of the former pupils find it very sad to see the destruction and what has happened to it," she said.
"I find it very distressing myself.
"I have some fond memories of the school and of the hall and standing under the blossoms in springtime, waiting to go into speech days, concerts and things we put on."
The school was first opened in 1906 by SCEGGS Darlinghurst as a boarding school where "the more delicate girls could benefit from the bracing country air".
Former pupil, Mary*, said she spent seven years at the school as a boarder, from the age of 8.
"We lived in Cronulla and I was affected by asthma from the fumes from the cars and my parents had to get me out of the city," she said.
In a sad twist of fate, it was the murdered schoolgirl - Wendy Luscombe - who was the reason Mary was sent to SCEGGS Moss Vale in the first place.
"Our parents were friends with her parents and she was a lovely girl," she said.
"She had been at the school for a year and her parents were delighted with it and gave it a bit of a rap. So that's why I went there."
Mary, who is now in her 70s, was nine years old when the shooting happened, but despite being so young, she said she could remember parts of the terrible day well.
A killer on the run
Wendy's murderer, Lawson, was a convicted rapist who had once been a successful comic book illustrator.
Lawson committed his first sadistic crime in 1954, when he abducted five models and took them into the bush at Terrey Hills.
There, he raped two of the girls and assaulted the others.
After serving several years for the crime in Long Bay jail, Lawson was released on parole in 1961.
Within six months he had struck again, murdering a 16-year-old girl named Jane Bower, who had been sitting for a portrait at his Collaroy apartment, according to a report in The Canberra Times.
The next morning, on November 7, Lawson was on the run and turned up at SCEGGS in Moss Vale armed with a rifle.
He burst into the chapel and held 150 senior students, along with a teacher and headmistress Jean Turnbull, hostage.
Mary said she and her friends were walking back from junior chapel when they passed the senior chapel where Lawson was holding the girls at gunpoint.
"I was in a small group of girls and we were chatting.
"During the standover with this idiot, the headmistress - who was a bit of a hero - had scribbled a note and ripped it out of a book.
"We were outside the chapel when she coughed and threw it out the window.
"My friend Monica picked it up.
"I saw the note and it said 'ring police'."
After that, the situation inside the chapel deteriorated when Turnbull lunged at Lawson.
"Jean Turnbull was exceedingly brave and she was shot through the hand as she tried to muzzle the rifle," Mary said.
Another shot fired by Lawson struck Wendy in the heart and she died at the scene.
History left to ruin
Despite having not-so-happy memories of her time at SCEGGS Moss Vale, Mary said she was also devastated to see the condition of the site today.
"I saw a video filmed there and I was absolutely disgusted with the wanton destruction," she said.
"I was so distraught with what I saw in the video.
"They were beautiful, well-constructed buildings. And most of that was done with parents and citizens raising money.
"My parents would have been spinning in their grave if they saw it. There is no reason for it."
After the school closed in 1974, the property was sold and it has changed hands a number of times.
It is now owned by a private family trust.
The main school building, now known as Austermere, is listed as a heritage item under Wingecarribee Council's local environmental plan.
Various proposals to make use of the site have been put by landowners to council over the years, but none have won approval to go ahead.
These include a development of residential aged care homes, put forward to council in 2008, which was rejected because of a zoning conflict.
Landowners challenged the decision in the Land and Environment Court, before taking their appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, eventually losing their case in 2011.
In 2016, another proposal to build residential housing on the land was put to council, but this was also knocked back.
'A call to leave'
Regan, who asked for his surname to be withheld, is among the recent "urban explorers" to document their visit to the site.
After noticing other videos on social media of the property, Regan said he and a friend were keen to check it out for themselves.
Entering the main gates, Regan took the 200-metre walk up the old school's driveway.
As well as the school hall and buildings, a swimming pool and tennis court remain on the grounds.
The school chapel where the shooting took place was demolished not long after Wendy's death.
However, Regan said the old school site still gave off an "eerie" feeling.
"It was a very foggy morning when I went. And, given the history of it, it just made the place even more spooky than it was."
Regan said while it was common to see abandoned sites vandalised, it was still upsetting to see the history left in ruins.
"As with so many abandoned sites which have been posted online, people find them and trash them and do graffiti," he said.
"It's not the nicest. I wish people would just leave the buildings and preserve the history.
"I'm all about the history of places and the architecture.
"I enjoy getting all the interactions on my posts and seeing people talk about how they went to school there. That's what I love.
"That's what I do it for, so people can enjoy the photos and reminisce."
No trip to the site would be complete without an encounter with the supernatural and Regan said he and his friend also experienced something creepy when they were about to leave.
"We were in the driveway at the front of the two buildings and I was just taking a photo of the yard and suddenly I heard this massive thud behind me," Regan said.
"It sounded like it was like a branch falling off a tree and hitting the ground.
"There was a tree in a stone circle behind me but it didn't have any branches big enough that would make that loud a sound.
"And the only branches on the ground were twigs.
"We figured it was most likely a call to leave, so we left straight after that."
*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.
