Report - The Royal Hospital Haslar, Gosport, August 10

[Ryno118]

This has been on my to do list for a while now, and with the recent reports lately showing how awesome the place is, I thought I better get it done.

With reports of top notch security and people getting busted, I thought I should go in the cover of darkness. So I decided to pull an all-nighter. I proceeded with top notch ninja skillz and pulled it off without being seen. I did this one solo.

The Royal Hospital Haslar began as a Royal Navy hospital in 1753. It has a long and distinguished history in the medical care of service personnel in peacetime and in war.

The building was designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built between 1746-61.

Haslar was the biggest hospital and the largest brick building in England when it was built. The hospital included an asylum for sailors with psychiatric disorders and an early superintending psychiatrist was the phrenologist, William Scott, a member of the influential Edinburgh Phrenological Society. James Lind at Haslar Hospital 1758-1774 played a large part in discovering a cure for scurvy, not least through his pioneering use of a double blind trial of vitamin C supplements (limes).

In 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar (abbreviated to RNH Haslar).

In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the country's first blood bank to treat wounded soldiers from the Second World War.

In 1966 the remit of the hospital expanded to serve all three services - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

In 1996 the hospital again became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar.

In 2001 the provision of acute healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have been the subject of considerable local controversy.

In 2009 the hospital formally closed and the site is due to be redeveloped.

On 17 May 2010 an investigation of the hospital's burial ground, by archaeologists from Cranfield Forensic Institute, was featured on Channel 4's Time Team. It was estimated that up to 7,785 individuals had been buried there. From 1758 the chief surgeon was James Lind who previously, though unwittingly, had discovered the cure for scurvy. Lind's pioneering work on infection control considerably improved mortality rates. Archaeological investigations showed evidence of scurvy and revealled that limb amputations had been commonplace.

Source: Wikipedia

This place is massive. It looks big from the outside but seems a lot bigger inside. It also has a very confusing layout and I kept finding myself walking in circles. Its sad to think of all the interesting stuff I walked right by to have the time to get the shots I wanted.


Interesting story about this place.

In the early days of Haslar Royal Naval Hospital patients had to be transferred to the hospital by [boat] from the harbour because there was no bridge. It is thought that the phrase “up the creek” may have originated from sailors who knew that if you were rowed to Haslar you were in trouble.

Cheers