HMS Thunderer Memorial
HMS THUNDERER MEMORIAL, CLAYHALL ROYAL NAVAL CEMETERY, CLAYHALL ROAD, GOSPORT, HAMPSHIRE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1428094
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- HMS Thunderer Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- HMS THUNDERER MEMORIAL, CLAYHALL ROYAL NAVAL CEMETERY, CLAYHALL ROAD, GOSPORT, HAMPSHIRE
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1428094
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-2016
- List Entry Name:
- HMS Thunderer Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- HMS THUNDERER MEMORIAL, CLAYHALL ROYAL NAVAL CEMETERY, CLAYHALL ROAD, GOSPORT, HAMPSHIRE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- HMS THUNDERER MEMORIAL, CLAYHALL ROYAL NAVAL CEMETERY, CLAYHALL ROAD, GOSPORT, HAMPSHIRE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hampshire
- District:
- Gosport (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SZ6101998670
Summary
Memorial and grave marker of 1876 to a fatal explosion on board HMS Thunderer.
Reasons for Designation
The memorial to HMS Thunderer of 1876 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: marking the accidental explosion of the submarine at nearby Stokes Bay, in which 15 of her crew were killed immediately, and a further 30 of whom died subsequently, at the Haslar Royal Naval Hospital;
* Artistic value: a restrained, dignified design in good-quality materials;
* Group value: for its place in the Royal Naval Cemetery and its relationship with the other listed memorials and the cemetery chapel, and within the wider naval landscapes of Haslar, Gosport and Portsmouth.
History
HMS Thunderer was a steam-powered battleship built to the designs of Edward James Reed and launched in 1872. On 14 July 1876 on the short journey from Portsmouth to Stokes Bay, one of her boilers exploded, instantly killing 15 of her crew and injuring 70, of whom 30 subsequently died at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar. The memorial, constructed by White Brothers of Landport, was erected at the Royal Naval Cemetery and marks the graves of the Chief Engineer, TC Slade, and Engineer, Robert Winfield, and commemorates the other lives lost.
Details
Memorial and grave marker to a fatal explosion on board HMS Thunderer, 1876.
MATERIALS and PLAN: a square limestone slab, square pink granite plinth, and marble base and shaft.
DESCRIPTION: the memorial is an obelisk that stands on a stepped granite plinth, rising to an inscribed pedestal with a moulded shoulder at the junction with the shaft. It is inscribed with applied metal lettering: ‘THIS MONUMENT WHICH STANDS ON THE GRAVES / OF / MESS. TC SLADE CHIEF ENGINEER RN / AND ROBERT WINFIELD ENGINEER RN / IS ERECTED BY BROTHER OFFICERS / FELLOW WORKMEN AND FRIENDS / TO THE MEMORY OF ALL THOSE WHO LOST THEIR / LIVES THROUGH THE EXPLOSION OF A BOILER / ON BOARD HMS THUNDERER AT SPITHEAD ON JULY 14TH 1876. / THE GREATER PART OF WHOM ARE BURIED IN / THE GRAVES ADJOINING THIS MONUMENT.’
The other three faces list the names of the dead, ordered by rank and role. The granite plinth is signed with the name of the masons, White Bros.
Sources
Websites
Clayhall Cemetery, Haslar Heritage Group, accessed 5/3/2015 from http://www.haslarheritagegroup.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:clayhall-cemetery&catid=20:the-buildings-of-haslar&Itemid=109
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 29-Jun-2026 at 04:36:00.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.