The Old Mortuary

Built in 1881, this Grade II–listed mortuary once served as the resting place for bodies washed up on Saltburn Beach, claimed by the often-treacherous North Sea. Before its construction, the Ship Inn across the road doubled as a makeshift morgue, but the demand for a dedicated building soon made this small stone structure a necessity.

At just 12 by 18 feet, the mortuary is modest in size but heavy in history. For nearly a century—until the 1970s—it was used not only for maritime tragedies but also for sudden deaths across the county, whenever a doctor could not determine the cause. Inside, original features remain, including the mortuary slab itself.

Once part of a larger maritime cluster, it stood alongside the Lifeboat House and Rocket Brigade building, both demolished in the 1960s during road expansion. After its service as a morgue ended, the building found new life as a photographer’s studio and later as the base for the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Today it stands derelict, closed to the public, but still bearing traces of its somber past.