OLD DEVONPORT . UK
www.olddevonport.uk
 

ROYAL DOCKYARD  |  SOUTH YARD

FIRE ENGINE HOUSE (SO 32)

Fire Engine House, South Yard.
©  Property Services Agency, Department of the Environment.

The Royal Dockyard had four Fire Engine Houses, this one in South Yard being the oldest, dating from 1851.

Consisting of three parallel, rectangular blocks linked by short stretches of wall, it is built of squared, limestone rubble with granite plinths and cills and limestone dressings and a slate roof.  The outer blocks are set slightly forward of the central block, which is the only one with a second storey.  The front of the central block has been altered and rendered in more recent times.  The western block has a carriage opening while the central archway in the eastern block has been filled in to create a window.  The horse-drawn Fire Engine was kept in the western block and the stables were in the centre block.  In 1912 the eastern block was where the sleeping quarters were for the fire party. 

Although the two side blocks are said never to have had upper storeys, the 1912 Ordnance Survey map of the Royal Dockyard shows a Police Billiard Room being over the western block, which house the fire engine.  Could this be a mistake for the central block?  The author remembers the collection of ships' figureheads being stored in the single-storey western building until they were removed to The Box.

By 1975 the building was being used as a canteen and office.

Under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and succeeding legislation the former Fire Engine House has Listed Building grade 2 status.