In a non-descript building lies a wasting corpse, not that of a human, but that of a decommissioned mortuary. Thousands of cars drive past it on their daily commute along Hampstead Road, unaware of its existence behind a tall fence.
History
This is the second mortuary on the site. The first built in 1936 and was a wooden structure where the current Administration building is. The mortuary provided services for the former Metropolitan Infectious Diseases Hospital, now the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre. At various times it also served the Royal Adelaide, Morris, Glenside, Hillcrest and Enfield Hospitals.
Most patients had died from infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, diptheria and scarlet fever. In later years it was common for people to pass away from old age rather than an infectious disease.
Second Mortuary
In the 1960s a new mortuary was built on site close to Hampstead Road. This “new” mortuary contains a visitor’s waiting room, a room where a body can be viewed ‘in state’, divided by a glass petition. This was so they could not touch the body due to infectious diseases.
There is also a room with 16 refrigerated bays (known as boxes) for cadavers. In the centre is a doorway where the staff can step inside and view all 18 bodies. Bay 10 was the most used and that door is part of our collection. Bodies were lifted manually into the refrigerated bays as there were no pat slides or lifting equipment.
In the autopsy room there is space for two autopsies to be performed at the same time. Autopsies often included the use of mallets, knives, bone splitting tools and more. A special feature of the facility is a raised viewing platform where medical staff can watch and learn during an autopsy.
A hospital porter remembers that the Northfield High School was next door. ‘The kids were always gossiping about the dead people being kept in the buildings’. Staff had to make a special cover to when the deceased patients from the wards to the mortuary so that the kids could not see them.
Part of my role was to take bodies to the mortuary and place them in the boxes. There were no body tags. Usually the deceased were old, with no relatives” – Richard Keynes, Support Services
Decommission
With the introduction of vaccines the mortuary declined in use. As it was not needed for rehabilitation patients the last body admitted to the mortuary was in 1995. After it was decommissioned staff painted images on the inner walls to farewell the mortuary. This act is common in hospital settings. With staff at the old Royal Adelaide Hospital doing the same in 2017.
The mortuary still sits vacant watching over Hampstead Road. It was due for demolition in 2022 but it is still standing in 2026.
Written by Jacquelene Ladner, CALHN Health Museum
Edited for Histories by Kellie Branson, CALHN Health Museum
