History
The Royal Hospital Haslar was the largest hospital in England. It had a long and distinguished history serving military personnel, and later civilians.
For over 250 years the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport provided medical services to the Royal Navy. The hospital had a long and distinguished service, and more recently provided treatment for all three military services and to civilians.
Planning for the hospital commenced in 1745 to be the first of three hospitals providing medical treatment to Sailors of the Fleet. Building of the hospital took 16 years and was completed in 1762, however the fourth side was not completed due to over-expenditure. When it opened, Haslar Hospital was the largest hospital, and the largest brick building in England.
As Haslar developed it didn’t take long until it started to resemble a prison more than a hospital. It was not uncommon for sailors to feign illness in order to be brought back to land from where they could escape. Extensive security measures were put in place and Haslar became known as an impenetrable fortress. The distinctive brick wall surrounding the site remains to this day, and was there to keep the sailors inside!
Development and expansion over the years ensured Haslar could stay at the forefront of care, and was always held in high regard. The many wars through the 20th century saw Haslar grow in terms of professionalism and technical ability while treating many casualties.
In 1966 Haslar became the core of the Tri-Services hospitals. The hospital was opened up to use by the NHS in later years, after military services were transferred to other hospitals. The site was closed and sold to developers in 2009.
The Explore
Explored with @Dragon_Urbex
This was to be our 3rd and final attempt at Hasler, little did we know we would actually pull it off this time!..
As the old saying goes.. if at first you dont succeed try try again and thats exactly what we did.
Our attempt at Hasler goes back to the summer of 2019 when corona was nothing more than a mexican larger.
We managed to get on site easily enough after waiting around for people to bugger off from the sea front, once the coast was finaly clear we made our way on to site and over to the nearest buildings which were just some of the old smaller wards.
We managed to get inside and get some shots but wanted to see the main hospital which is further across the site.
So we headed in the direction of the main hospital but we encountered a bit of a problem... A fucking English Heritage day was taking place and blocking our route!.
So we just decided to go for it, next thing you no secca are shouting out" OI WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STAY WHERE YOU ARE".
Within seconds they were in there car and heading our way.
At this point i fucking legged it across a huge rubble field expecting Dragon_urbex to be following but i looked round and he was no where to be seen.
Not knowing what to do i headed to 1 of the buildings already in the process of converion.
After waiting in the building for a while i managed to get hold of Dragon who told me secca had given him a lift back to the car! ( Cheeky Fucker )
So i had drawn the short staw and had the long 15min wallk back to the car.
Our 2nd attempt was summer 2020.
This time, erm well it didnt go very well because as soon as we got on site ans started walking past the smaller wards which we explored the year before, out of no where a lone security gurd pops up and escorts us off site.
Super pissed off as we realised our mistake that was the end of that.
Our next attemp was August this year, and this time things went a little differently ...
Yep we finaly got to see whats left of Hasler.
It wasnt easy though as secca are fucking on it here and there are cameras everywhere, i swear they even have cameras overlooking the cameras!
We made it to the main hospital which is now covered in scaffolding with holes everywhere so getting in was extremely easy.
Once inside we started navigating through the huge old building, which at 1st looked like we were to late as there was nothing but
plasterboarded walls but as we headed further in she finaly started to reveal herself.
It was absolutly amazing how much was still left and just couldnt belive our luck when we found there was even still some old scanners in there.
At this point Dragon was sure he heard noises and saw torch light so we hunkered down for a while untill sunrise.
We must have spent a good 4 hours inside snapping away and must have covered pretty much the whole building.
Overwhelmed with happiness and excitement we just decided to walk out the main gate past the security hut even stopping to chat to 1 of the guys on duty who was telling us about how they used to work at Hasler when it was open and along with some of there other tales of doing security .
After 2 failed attemps over 2 years this place certinaly did not disappoint and would have been a huge explore back in the day.
Sadly time is running out on Hasler now, with conversion of the main hospital well underway , lets just hope they keep that magnificent staitcase!
The Royal Hospital Haslar was the largest hospital in England. It had a long and distinguished history serving military personnel, and later civilians.
For over 250 years the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport provided medical services to the Royal Navy. The hospital had a long and distinguished service, and more recently provided treatment for all three military services and to civilians.
Planning for the hospital commenced in 1745 to be the first of three hospitals providing medical treatment to Sailors of the Fleet. Building of the hospital took 16 years and was completed in 1762, however the fourth side was not completed due to over-expenditure. When it opened, Haslar Hospital was the largest hospital, and the largest brick building in England.
As Haslar developed it didn’t take long until it started to resemble a prison more than a hospital. It was not uncommon for sailors to feign illness in order to be brought back to land from where they could escape. Extensive security measures were put in place and Haslar became known as an impenetrable fortress. The distinctive brick wall surrounding the site remains to this day, and was there to keep the sailors inside!
Development and expansion over the years ensured Haslar could stay at the forefront of care, and was always held in high regard. The many wars through the 20th century saw Haslar grow in terms of professionalism and technical ability while treating many casualties.
In 1966 Haslar became the core of the Tri-Services hospitals. The hospital was opened up to use by the NHS in later years, after military services were transferred to other hospitals. The site was closed and sold to developers in 2009.
The Explore
Explored with @Dragon_Urbex
This was to be our 3rd and final attempt at Hasler, little did we know we would actually pull it off this time!..
As the old saying goes.. if at first you dont succeed try try again and thats exactly what we did.
Our attempt at Hasler goes back to the summer of 2019 when corona was nothing more than a mexican larger.
We managed to get on site easily enough after waiting around for people to bugger off from the sea front, once the coast was finaly clear we made our way on to site and over to the nearest buildings which were just some of the old smaller wards.
We managed to get inside and get some shots but wanted to see the main hospital which is further across the site.
So we headed in the direction of the main hospital but we encountered a bit of a problem... A fucking English Heritage day was taking place and blocking our route!.
So we just decided to go for it, next thing you no secca are shouting out" OI WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STAY WHERE YOU ARE".
Within seconds they were in there car and heading our way.
At this point i fucking legged it across a huge rubble field expecting Dragon_urbex to be following but i looked round and he was no where to be seen.
Not knowing what to do i headed to 1 of the buildings already in the process of converion.
After waiting in the building for a while i managed to get hold of Dragon who told me secca had given him a lift back to the car! ( Cheeky Fucker )
So i had drawn the short staw and had the long 15min wallk back to the car.
Our 2nd attempt was summer 2020.
This time, erm well it didnt go very well because as soon as we got on site ans started walking past the smaller wards which we explored the year before, out of no where a lone security gurd pops up and escorts us off site.
Super pissed off as we realised our mistake that was the end of that.
Our next attemp was August this year, and this time things went a little differently ...
Yep we finaly got to see whats left of Hasler.
It wasnt easy though as secca are fucking on it here and there are cameras everywhere, i swear they even have cameras overlooking the cameras!
We made it to the main hospital which is now covered in scaffolding with holes everywhere so getting in was extremely easy.
Once inside we started navigating through the huge old building, which at 1st looked like we were to late as there was nothing but
plasterboarded walls but as we headed further in she finaly started to reveal herself.
It was absolutly amazing how much was still left and just couldnt belive our luck when we found there was even still some old scanners in there.
At this point Dragon was sure he heard noises and saw torch light so we hunkered down for a while untill sunrise.
We must have spent a good 4 hours inside snapping away and must have covered pretty much the whole building.
Overwhelmed with happiness and excitement we just decided to walk out the main gate past the security hut even stopping to chat to 1 of the guys on duty who was telling us about how they used to work at Hasler when it was open and along with some of there other tales of doing security .
After 2 failed attemps over 2 years this place certinaly did not disappoint and would have been a huge explore back in the day.
Sadly time is running out on Hasler now, with conversion of the main hospital well underway , lets just hope they keep that magnificent staitcase!
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