# Royal Haslar



## Rolfey (May 14, 2018)

*History*

The Royal Hospital Haslar was designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built between 1745 and 1761. The site opened as a Royal Naval Hospital in 1754. On completion it was the largest brick building in Europe, and the largest hospital in England. Building works cost more than £100,000, nearly double the cost of the Admiralty headquarters in London.

Patients usually arrived by boat (it was not until 1795 that a bridge was built over Haslar Creek, providing a direct link to Gosport). The high brick walls and railings surrounding the site were designed to stop patients from going absent without leave. Dr James Lind (1716–1794), a leading physician at Haslar from 1758 till 1785, played a major part in discovering a cure for scurvy, not least through his pioneering use of a double blind methodology with Vitamin C supplements (limes). The hospital included an asylum for sailors with psychiatric disorders, and an early superintending psychiatrist was the phrenologist, Dr James Scott (1785–1859), a member of the influential Edinburgh Phrenological Society.

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 decision to end the provision of bespoke hospital care for Service personnel was taken prior to the UK's expeditionary campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was nevertheless followed through, largely on the grounds of cost. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have remained the subject of considerable local controversy.

The hospital formally closed in 2009 and the site is being redeveloped











































thanks for looking!!


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## HughieD (May 14, 2018)

You're really getting out there! Another great report.


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## Rolfey (May 15, 2018)

I’ve done a fair few just never posted, I thought it’s about time to share some the experiences I’ve had, with you guys!


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## BikinGlynn (May 15, 2018)

That's a decent place, loving the slightly strange window next to sink!


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## Rolfey (May 15, 2018)

Yeah it’s a strange place to put the sink! Lol and thank you!


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## smiler (May 15, 2018)

Another nice One UR, enjoyed it, Thanks


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## Dirus_Strictus (May 15, 2018)

Urban Rolfster said:


> Yeah it’s a strange place to put the sink! Lol and thank you!



Sorry to be pedantic; it is a hand basin, put in when the hygiene regulations demanded that hand washing facilities for nursing staff must be available on each ward that treated certain injuries and diseases. The observation windows are from the days when this place housed service men suffering from the likes of small pox, TB and other nasty, very infectious diseases as well as mental disorders. The windows meant that ordinary nursing staff could observe the ward's patients without having to wear extra protective clothing or take health risks, during sleeping hours. It also meant that nursing staff's safety could always be monitored when they were doing their rounds. In its very early years, this place was more like butcher's department than a hospital - some of the early records make horrendous reading.

Having just read some of the very early reports on this place, I note that some people were surprised at the large number of body fridges in the mortuary. In times of conflict this place was expected to treat large numbers of service personnel who would be suffering from the most horrendous wounds - the death rate could have been horrendous and facilities had to be in place to deal with any such eventuality.


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## Rubex (May 19, 2018)

Very nice report!


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## prettyvacant71 (May 20, 2018)

Good to see this place again, thanks UR!


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## KPUrban_ (Nov 8, 2018)

Nice report love the stairs.
I'm surprised this place is still about. also, are there any op rooms here or am I thinking of another hospital?


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## mookster (Nov 9, 2018)

KPUrbex said:


> Nice report love the stairs.
> I'm surprised this place is still about. also, are there any op rooms here or am I thinking of another hospital?



There were plenty.

It is currently being slowly stripped/converted/demolished so they may well have been removed by the time this was posted.


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## Urbanxxx (Jan 4, 2019)

Nice one! The morgue is accessible at the moment aswell


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