Royal Hospital Haslar | |
---|---|
Royal Navy Ministry of Defence Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust | |
Geography | |
Location | Gosport, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 50°47′10″N 1°07′26″W / 50.786°N 1.124°W |
Organisation | |
Care system | Naval / Military / NHS |
Services | |
Beds | Up to 350 |
History | |
Opened | 1753 |
Closed | 2009 |
Links | |
Lists | Hospitals in England |
The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, which was also known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, was one of Britain's leading Royal Naval Hospitals (and latterly a tri-service MOD hospital) for over 250 years. Built in the 1740s, it was reputedly the largest hospital in the world when it opened,[1] and the largest brick-built building in Europe.[2]
In 1998 the closure of the hospital was announced, conditional on the establishment of an MOD Hospital Unit at a nearby civilian hospital. In 2007 the military withdrew; Haslar then continued to function for a short time under civilian management, before closing entirely in 2009. In 2018, the historic buildings began to be converted into retirement flats, and in 2020 the site reopened as Royal Haslar: a 'luxury waterfront residential village'.[3]
A significant number of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian former hospital buildings are being preserved on the site; they are currently (2024) in the process of being converted to a variety of residential, business, retail and leisure uses.[4] The 18th-century quadrangle blocks are Grade II* listed,[5] as is the hospital chapel;[6] while around a dozen other buildings and structures on the site are listed at Grade II.[7] Most of the post-war hospital buildings have now been demolished.[8]