Dead House, Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar

Dead House, part of the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, is a mortuary dating from the mid-19th century, with an addition constructed in 1869. It was originally built to serve the hospital. The earlier section of the building is constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, featuring gauged brick arches, and has a hipped slate roof with a brick chimney. The 1869 addition is also of red brick, incorporating bands of blue brick in a Flemish bond, along with stone dressings, gauged brick window arches, and a tiled roof.

The building is a single-storey, linear structure oriented from the southwest to the northeast. The original section, located to the south, consists of a single rectangular cell connected to the 1869 addition by a short corridor. This corridor leads to a second single room, which originally had a substantial porch on its northeast side, now blocked.

The 1850s section is two bays wide and three bays long, with an opening and a flat, gauged brick arch over each bay. The windows are hornless sash windows with six-over-six panes and projecting stone sills. A door is located on the northwest elevation. The southeast elevation is entirely rendered. The building features a brick plinth and projecting brick courses below the eaves. The two windows on the northeast elevation are blind, interrupted by the connecting corridor to the 1869 building.

The 1869 addition is a small, square block with a pyramidal roof, punctuated by small, ventilating dormers. Lancet windows, with round, gauged brick heads, chamfered surrounds, stone sills, and leaded lights with marginal metal glazing bars, are placed on each side elevation. The addition has a brick plinth and a diagonal brick cornice below the eaves. The blocked porch on the northeast end is a pitched projection featuring a round-arched doorway with a gauged brick head and chamfered architrave; the solid timber door has ornate strap hinges incorporating leaf motifs. The porch gable has stone copings with shaped kneelers and a metal cross at the apex. The porch's return elevations each have a single window beneath a pitched dormer with dressed stone detailing. The pitched linking corridor contains two small lunette windows on either side.

The interiors of both sections are plainly detailed and feature modern floor coverings and skirtings. The original section includes an inserted partition creating an entrance lobby, leading to the original mortuary room on the right, and the linking corridor on the left. The original mortuary room is open to the roof, which displays timber trusses and a lantern. The linking corridor has exposed rafters, while the secondary mortuary room has an inserted ceiling, although the original roof structure remains above.