Time Team Special: Nelson's Hospital | Classic Special (Full Episode) - 2010 Haslar, Gosport

FULL EPISODE | CLASSIC TIME TEAM SPECIAL
Join Tony Robinson, Phil Harding and Helen Geake for another Classic Special from the archives, investigating Nelson's Hospital at Haslar, Gosport, near Portsmouth.
In 1745, the Royal Navy purchased Haslar Farm near the Portsmouth dockyard at Haslar in order to build Britain's first naval hospital. Costing £100,000, the 1800-bed structure was the biggest construction project in the country. Completed in 1753, Royal Hospital Haslar treated sailors until it closed in 2009. As part of its closure, Time Team document excavations of the hospital's 9-acre unmarked burial ground by Cranfield University. Of the 7,800 bodies calculated to lie there, some in multiple-burial plots, examination of 30 excavated skeletons reveals the dangers and hardships of life at the time, such as amputations, ulcers, diseases and scurvy. The hospital's first chief physician, James Lind, also pioneered new hygiene techniques that helped reduce mortality.
Original broadcast date: 17th May 2010
** JOIN TIME TEAM ON PATREON! **
Support Time Team by becoming a patron and get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes content here: / timeteamofficial
** MERCHANDISE **
You can now purchase Time Team's Official merchandise here: shop.timeteamdigital.com/
Website: www.timeteamdigital.com
Patreon: / timeteamofficial
Instagram: / timeteamofficial
Twitter: / thetimeteam
Facebook: / officialtimeteam

[@cadburybunny]

It's awesome to hear Tony opening an episode again. Even if he's opening for repeats!

[@NorrieMacTHESMOG]

cant stand the royal arse kisser

[@malcolmtill]

I owe my existence to RNH Haslar in 1976 serving in the Fleet Air Arm i was admitted suffering pneumonia, I had to be resuscitated from the jaws of death

[@potusuk]

I was a patient at RNH Haslar January 82, three months later the ship I was serving on was in the Falklands... but strangely enough a naval nurse treating me at Haslar also served down in the Falklands on SS Uganda hospital ship ..... we 'discovered' this fact of our paths crossing a few years later when we met purely by chance in Plymouth.

[@RichardLaurence]

I went on a school cruise round the Mediterranean when I was a 14 year-old boy. It sounds amazing, which it was - although being cooped up with a couple of thousand rowdy kids had it’s downsides!

[@RichardLaurence]

I went on a school cruise round the Mediterranean when I was a 14 year-old boy. It sounds amazing, which it was - although being cooped up with a couple of thousand rowdy kids had it’s downsides!

[@potusuk]

I presume you're referring to the Uganda 😀 yes it was also used as a transport ship between Acension & Falklands after the war, the 'dormitories' still had the names of explorers on them, I traveled down on it in '84. @@RichardLaurence

[@cherihayward350]

That's amazing ❤

[@judypritchard4670]

Always amazed when I find one I have not seen.

[@richardlawton1023]

I lived at the Copper and Lumber store in English Harbour,Antigua. It was formally Lord Admiral Nelsons Officer Quaters. Its now a luxury hotel... I was the Chef at the time in 1990.

[@maddiethomas5892]

Wow! That's amazing. Thanks!

[@orwellboy1958]

I visited there a few years ago while on holiday.

[@motaman8074]

" up the creek". I love learning stuff like that!

[@SirWhig-esq.]

❤Much love to all the Time Team gang🎉

[@lewis47094]

I had my knee cap and medial ligament repaired at Haslar in 1977 (Rugby Injury) brilliant hospital and fantastic staff

[@TimeTeamOfficial]

Join us for another Classic Time Team Special from the archives this Saturday (7pm GMT)!

[@conorcoltman5756]

Any chance of a re-run of the Time Team special 'Sheffield Steel City' please? Thanks.

[@TimeTeamOfficial]

@@conorcoltman5756Hi, the Steel City episode is available to watch now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/TimeTeamOfficial

[@bigmull]

I served there from 1978 to 1986,many happy memories they should never have shut it.I just wish they would pronounce the name correctly,its not Haslaaar but Hasler.

[@ccollins8127]

This really bugged me too!

[@Musketeer009]

Thank you Sir Tony, and the Time Team for an extremely interesting episode. Some great stories linked to the Hospital.

[@OliverFlinn]

I used to watch these every sunday on the TV here in Czechia. Glad to see theyre still doing well

[@RHCole]

Love me some Time Team!

[@andreaarias2085]

Thank you Time Team!

[@RichardLaurence]

Excellent! I was based at Haslar for 4 years. It’s steeped in history. One time we wanted to add a rubbish disposal shute from the upper floor - someone pointed out that the walls were 5 or 6 feet thick!

[@helenlawrence6585]

I went to Haslar for physio therapy in the 90s. I remember it being very large and imposing and easy to get lost in. But it had very good facilities, and most of the staff were from the military.

[@cliffcannon]

A rare treat to hear so much from the extraordinary Professor Andrew Lambert! (In addition to all the excellent regulars, of course...)

[@msfrred1st]

Haslar is all private housing now. Magnificent building I pass almost every day.

[@TimeTravelReads]

Good to see another Time Team video.

[@fraeris1]

I'm ready 👍

[@bugeyednutburke4558]

Omg I love time team

[@presleymitchell5360]

Love time team. 🎉

[@nickcook2002]

Love time team.

[@michaelabbott9080]

Had my tonsils out there.

[@SaxonSuccess]

Had my eyes tested for Rating Aircrew there. Passed...

[@gregb6469]

With more modern surgical tools, I hope!

[@icewillowfrost]

Usually it’s building excavations but it’s fascinating when the team gets access to strictly burial sites. Great video!!

[@paulrummery6905]

The seagulls in the soundtrack is poignant.. Great episode and a moving story, you cultural legends..love from Australia.

[@LarryThePhotoGuy]

My 2nd great grandfather died in the American Civil War of measles. Joining late in the war, he was one of 10,000 who were called up to guard the vital railroad supply line into the South. Of 10,000 men and 24 officers, only 8 enlisted and 1 officer were killed by enemy action. 952 died of disease. And this was in 1865. As for burial, he was buried with a wooden marker near "U.S. Hospital #8," a canvass tent near Nashville, Tennessee. 3 years later, after the war, he was exhumed and moved to the Nashville National Cemetery. His date of death was recorded wrong; probably the wooden marker was unreadable by then. I provided my research to the cemetery officials and they changed the date in their records.

[@carolinereynolds2032]

My grandfather was from a very small community in Australia when he enlisted in ww2. From his war record i saw that he got German measles. I wonder how many men got sick from these types of diseases after coming into contact with much greater numbers of people than they had ever encountered before? Was your great grandfather a country boy?

[@LarryThePhotoGuy]

@@carolinereynolds2032 Yes indeed, he was a farm boy from a very rural area in Illinois. He had a young family. He and his wife's cousin joined the Illinois Volunteer Infantry together on February 6th 1865. {Between the bounty for joining up, a year of army pay and homesteading rights, they could have gotten their own well-equipped farms.} The cousin died on the 8th of March and he on the 10th.

[@lilly7187]

excellent show

[@paulpowell4871]

Always a pleasure.

[@maryannbaker9960]

Excellent! So wonderful to see and hear Sir Tony again! I have two questions. Were RN wounded and retired paid a decent pension? When the DD were buried in that huge area of ground, could there possibly have been a system? Could the burials have begun in the area furthest from the hospital and proceeded inwards? In that case, checking to see which sailor died first and so on, might indicate where they were buried.

[@williamrobinson7435]

Fascinating and beautifully done. Many thanks Team! ⭐👍

[@nellanddudley]

You brought me to tears 🙏

[@lizzy66125]

Thank you for another really interesting episode.

[@thatcanadianwhitetrashguy]

It really lead us into the Future, Now . I love that time in History

[@devinangola3458]

Oh my god, I’m getting flashbacks, +1 great episode!🙂

[@FrankTheTank612]

Tony Robinson is amazing. Best history host of all time.

[@cherihayward350]

Wow, how interesting...I bloody love this programme ❤

[@madelinehero4353]

I love the classic time team crew

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks so much for posting.

[@Skarta]

Amazing!!! As always

[@janicekraus2196]

Fascinating!!

[@JamesWilson-gw2ij]

Imagine if this was a war grave…. Terrible that these servicemen have been disturbed for commercial gain by turning Haslar in to apartments for the wealthy 😢

[@Davlavi]

Love the classics.

[@jmc7034]

Excellent ❤❤

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank

[@chrisvickers7928]

One of the best things you could have carried on a sailing ship to prevent scurvy would have been barrels of sauerkraut . It will last a long time. It is cheap. A few hundred grams /day will supply you with your daily requirement of vitamin C.

[@charlesmaurer6214]

The stuff I can buy all says not a significant source of vitamin C. Vitamin C comes from Citrus or rose hips. Sauerkraut does contain vinegar which is acetic acid that also has some preventative properties, which the Romans would use a mixture of vinegar and water.

[@chrisvickers7928]

@@charlesmaurer6214 100 g of sauerkraut contains 24% of the rda for vitam1n C. The entire crucifer family has plenty of vitamin C although you lose some in cooking. Bell peppers also have vitamin C but they weren't available back then. I'm intolerant to citrus fruit so I have to substitute.

[@poc329]

Shame are Veterans are treated with distain in this day & age😢

[@HYUKLDER1]

It's a disgrace that the NHS and government close hospitals when they are supposed to be building new ones to serve people better. Village hospitals all over the country are disappearing despite local people wanting to keep them open.

[@jakubj_]

When someone tells me about the good ol' days I'm gonna send them this.

[@daniellekoski418]

I'm surprised there are not records somewhere of where and who were buried. I've seen pauper cemeteries in the US with better records of where the dead are buried. So odd that these people served their country, sometimes not bu choice, and the country didnt take the time to write down their final resting spot.

[@bigsarge2085]

✌

[@cherylkurucz8852]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@equaliser2265]

Heart of Oak

[@valswhitewolf6611]

Time Team is perfect leave off the music.

[@W4iteFlame]

Though when were the burial markers removed? And why?

[@dawngriffin3550]

❤️

[@akd8525]

Very few of these men would have been casualties of battle. Even during war, the majority of RN casualties in the 18th and 19th century were to disease, and many or most battle casualties would have seen burial at sea. Only a small number of battle casualties would have survived the return journey to then die in hospital.

[@louiseedwards29]

I always feel weird and uncomfortable about more recent burials being dug up; they just seem too close to us. Really old neolithic or Iron age burials don't bother me as much. But when it comes down to it, they were all living people once.

[@timwoodman1154]

Up the creek without a paddle.

[@virginiajayhudgins8277]

Why were the markers removed and when?

[@jennytheratbry4624]

Tony, you've got red on yer

[@vectorbrony3473]

So we don't call it Has-lar Hospital. The R is often dropped and it's called Has-la Hospital

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

fine

[@karenw9996]

It would seem that the woman with the bones showing rickets is unaware that milk and dairy products do NOT contain vitamin D. SYNTHETIC vitamin D is ADDED to milk to reduce the likelihood of rickets, a practice that began around 1930. Aside from sunlight, which at northern latitudes only penetrates deeply enough for the body to manufacture vitamin D for 2-3 months in mid-summer, the best source is fatty fish.

[@Bugster42]

hernia wasn't measred it was a very common injury skelton would not show them

[@willjohnson1273]

Of course the fatalities at SEA of a certain distance they would probably be buried at SEA, not everyone got brought back from Battle like Nelson did!!!

[@sampointau]

Sailed a 6 ship fleet around the world in 1740? I don't think so, captain James Cook discovered the continent of Australia and the islands of New Zealand and Hawaii in 1770 and later years, 3 voyages.

[@stephanievegter5438]

🇿🇦♥️

[@tree267]

There’s not much here that wasn’t already known, or could not be learned from the existing records. Seems like a slightly pointless project to me.

[@alfadasfire]

11:40 jeees poor bloke. Months of suffering. what a shit way to go. Probably against his will in the navy too.

[@neilsimone7691]

tommys dad

[@charlesmaurer6214]

As a historian I value info from digs but it is disgracefull to open graves from a time we have detail records of. You may gain some details of those unturned but little real value that would change books. Let them rest in peace.

[@sethlogee]

Very strange they called the Iraq War a “conflict” and not a War

[@TermiteUSA]

Gregory Peck is Hornblower forever!

[@8888movietime]

Hence the Aussies call the Brits 'Limies', for obvious reasons.

[@rotironwerks]

Would be interesting to do Y-DNA testing on those bodies.

[@8888movietime]

And now, all that what little is left of the Royal Navy worries about is making sure that pronouns are correct and no one is offended. So sad that it has all come to this.

[@snodrog5]

10 commercial breaks in 30 mins? Unwatchable.

[@Diggin4LifeMetalDetecting]

SHAME ON ALL OF YOU GRAVE ROBBERS! PUTTING OUR SAILORS IN CARDBOARD BOXES UNDER EACH TABLE - SHAME ON ALL OF YOU GRAVE ROBBERS!

[@charlesmaurer6214]

I made the same comment in essence. Little value in this excavation when we have detailed records of the period. If we did not have those records then there might be some value in seeing how individual people died but not in digging people out of their graves when we know the very Wars they fought in how they fought and where they fought.

[@barbaraleonard8379]

What would our world be like if woman ruled instead of men ? War is such a waste of human life.

[@charlesmaurer6214]

It is even worse, remember Elizabeth and Victoria both lost more Englishman in their Wars than any ruler until the World Wars

[@nancytimmer9026]

I don't think it would make any difference. Its humanity that goes to war for power and wealth all throughout history no matter the sex of their leaders.

[@fleurbee8360]

Unfortunately the "women" who would have been candidates for rulership thru ought history are just as blood thirsty and uncaring as their male counterparts. Those of the "ruling class" have only ever seen the rest of us as commodities to be utilised, hence the way they treated the common folk who they rounded-up and forced to serve in "their" navy. Even after having suffered so much at the navy's hands. This has always been the way of it.