Ballast Pond is a Grade II listed building in the local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 January 1987. Ballast pond.
Ballast Pond
- WRENN ID
- sombre-wicket-foxglove
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Constituency
- South East Cornwall MP: Anna Gelderd (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 26 January 1987
- Type
- Ballast pond
- Address
- Ballast Pond, Torpoint, Cornwall
- OS grid reference
- SX 440 547
- Coordinates
- 50.37174, -4.19444
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Ballast Pond, also known as the ballast pound, was built in 1783 by the Admiralty. It is constructed from slatestone rubble with Devon limestone copings and has a square plan with an entrance on the east side. The walls rise about 2 metres high on the landward side and are deeper on the seaward side, with overall dimensions of approximately 80 metres square and wall thickness of about 2 metres. The walls are battered and feature dressed stone copings, while the inner side has stepped walls that create the appearance of a string course. The top of the pond is paved with stone setts and includes cast iron mooring rings at intervals. The entrance on the east side is about 10 metres wide, with round-headed ends to the walls. The quality of the masonry is high.
The pond was likely constructed to provide shelter for lighters, which were boats used to transport ballast (stone and sand in the 18th century) when repairs were made to ships. This allowed the lighters to remain in dock without needing to unload until the ballast was required again.
Local climate
Ballast Pond sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 990 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 9 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 91% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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