OLD DEVONPORT . UK
www.olddevonport.uk
 

ROYAL DOCKYARD  |  THE FIRST DOCK

GREAT STOREHOUSE

To the south of the First Dock of the Royal Dockyard was the Great Storehouse, or, as Mr Dummer called it, the "Magazine".  It was completed sometime between 1692 and 1698.

The building was 60 feet square, arranged around an inner courtyard, and was two stories high.  It is said that it could contain the equipment of forty men-of-war.  As it stood on a point of land reaching into the Hamoaze, making it very prominent, it could be reached at any state of the tide on at least two of its four sides.  The Storekeeper lived in one of the properties in The Terrace.

To the east of the Great Storehouse was the Ropery with its attendant Oakum Shed, Hemp Shed and Yarn Houses while to the south was a Graving Slip.

The Great Storehouse was demolished at the same time that the Ropery was replaced in order to clear access to the southern extremity of the Yard.  A whole range of Stores and Store Sheds, a new Sail Loft, a Sail Platform and a new Rigging House were built on the site.