The Gunboat Yard, Haslar, Gosport: Historic Buildings Assessment
Author(s): Sarah Hendriks
Haslar Gunboat Yard is a unique naval site at Gosport, Hampshire. It operated as a yard for the housing and repair of British gunboats between 1856 and 1906. From this time, the yard has retained its association with coastal craft, notably as a site for HMS Hornet from 1912-1973. The site comprises a series of original iron sheds for housing the gunboats, part of the traverser system used for their movement and a collection of ancillary buildings relating to repair, maintenance and power provision both for the gunboat yard and the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar on the opposite side of Haslar Road. The site also has two brick structures, designed by William Scamp, for use as a guard house and police barracks. Most of the buildings are at present unused, although some equipment is still in situ as of November 2013. The guard house, police barracks, workshops, boiler house and engine room are all on the Heritage at Risk Register. Most of the structures on site were constructed between 1856 and 1870, with the exception of a large iron shed built in the 1950s. Haslar Gunboat Yard lies within the Haslar Conservation Area. The guardhouses and boat sheds are listed at Grade II and scheduled and the remaining brick structures, contemporary to the sheds, are curtilage listed. The significance of Haslar Gunboat Yard lies in its association with iron technology through the traverser system designed and used especially for the purpose of moving gunboats and for its historic significance as the only gunboat yard to have been built by the British Navy.
- Report Number:
- 15/2014
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 91
