Gunboat Yard Engine House Complex

The Gunboat Yard Engine House Complex, dating from circa 1854, comprises an engine house, boiler house, horse wheel house, coal store, chimney, and former well houses. The design was likely undertaken by the Admiralty Works Department, under the direction of Colonel Greene, the Director of Works, and William Scamp, the Deputy Director of Engineering and Architectural Works.

The buildings are constructed primarily of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern. The engine house features a wrought iron roof structure, while the complex as a whole incorporates corrugated iron and slate roofs.

The complex stands within the Haslar Gunboat Yard, along its south-eastern boundary wall, opposite the Royal Naval Hospital Laundry. Walls adjoining the gunboat sheds create a forecourt, with a main entrance opening onto Haslar Road. The engine house, boiler house, horse wheel house, and coal store form an L-shaped footprint, with a chimney rising from the boiler house at their junction. A well house is situated at the north-east end, and a more recent well house at the south-west.

The single-storey engine house, boiler house, horse wheel house, and coal store has a brick parapet. The south-eastern elevation, forming part of the gunboat yard's boundary wall, is roughly symmetrical, featuring two tall arched doorways on either side, with three smaller blind arches between them. The leftmost arch provides access to the former coal store. A window with a flat concrete lintel has been inserted to light the boiler room. Original openings are generally beneath gauged brick round arches, and a brick string course runs along the length of the building, marking the base of the parapet.

The north-west elevation of the engine house has a main entrance with a fanlight containing radial glazing bars, and two full-height round arched windows with multiple-light casements. The north-west elevation of the boiler house has a pair of windows, an inserted doorway under a thick concrete lintel, and an oculus and an inserted arched opening. The western wall of the complex extends north towards the rear of the gunboat sheds, effectively dividing that section of the yard.

The square-plan chimney has projecting brick courses at its top. A platform, accessed by two steps, is located at the junction of the chimney, boiler house, and engine house.