Grade II listed chalet with sea views for sale… One catch: It used to be …

Posted on by Listify Me

  • Building no bigger than single garage
  • Council taking offers but local estate agent put value at around £25,000
  • Comes complete with stone mortuary slab and wooden gurney

By
Amy Oliver


PUBLISHED:

13:31 GMT, 10 July 2012

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UPDATED:

14:37 GMT, 10 July 2012

Offered: A bijou dwelling with sweeping sea views… and cosy mortuary slab. Possibly haunted.

As potential beach huts go this ex mortuary in Saltburn, where the bodies of drowned seamen were once brought, is not the most obvious choice for a relaxing day at the seaside.

But, despite its eeriness, interest in the grade two listed building is rocketing, according to owners Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

Hard-up town hall bosses are now taking offers on the building as part of a bid to save £18 million.

Dead nice: Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is selling off the Victorian mortuary at Saltburn, which comes with a stone slab and wooden gurney

Eerie: Hard-up town hall bosses are now taking offers on the grade two building as part of a bid to save Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council £18 million

Being just a stone’s throw from the sands at Saltburn, near Redcar, the council say the mortuary would make an ideal beach chalet and could accommodate a family, despite being no bigger than a single garage.

The council has remained tight lipped over how much the building might be worth, but a spokesman from local estate agents Robson Carter told MailOnline it could go for as much as £25,000.

As well as the stone slab, the mortuary also boasts a sinister hook hanging from the roof beams and a wooden gurney once used to lay out drowned mariners for which the mortuary was built in 1881.

Good views: The mortuary is just a stone’s throw from the sands at Saltburn, near Redcar. Council bosses say it would make an ideal beach chalet despite its eerie history

Local historians say bodies lost at sea tended to arrive at the point on the seafront due to prevailing tides and corpses were still be recovered to there in the 1960s.

A Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council spokesman said: ‘Our estates people have taken quite a number of calls from people expressing an interest.

‘At present we are open to offers and we are looking at them on an individual basis as they come in.’

Purpose: The property was built as a mortuary in 1881, but stopped being used for that purpose in the 1960s. It was most recently used for storage

The Council has embarked on a five-year programme of selling off surplus assets in a bid to dramatically reduce its running costs.

Other properties up for grabs this week include reading room and micro-café.

The spokesman added: ‘The 19th century, grade II-listed mortuary on Saltburn Foreshore is among the most unusual properties going to the market.

‘It was built as a mortuary in 1881, but stopped being used for that purpose in the 1960s and its most recent operation was a store.’

Councillor Norman Pickthall, Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, said: ‘In the present economic climate, it makes good sense for the Council to operate its services from fewer buildings or share accommodation with its partners.

The mortuary used to be open on Heritage Open Days by the Friends of Saltburn Mortuary, who applied to take over the lease five years ago to refurbish it and run it as a local attraction but got nowhere.

Those interested in making an offer should contact the council’s Asset Management Service on 01642 444392.

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