Former Cashiers Office

The former Cashier's Office dates to the late 18th century and was extended around 1808 by Edward Holl, who was the architect for the Navy Board. It is constructed of red brick with patterned brick jambs to the upper windows, stone dressings, brick rear lateral stacks, and a hipped slate roof. The building is of a mid-Georgian style.

The plan is a single-depth axial arrangement of four rooms. The exterior is two storeys with a twelve-window range. A long, parapeted range features a plinth and broad pilasters to the ends. Two doorways are located one and five bays from the right, each with rusticated pilasters, a triglyph frieze, and a modillion cornice, topped with a door of eight raised panels and half-glazed glass. The windows are segmentally arched, containing shallow-recessed six-pane sashes. The rear elevation is largely blind except for a French window with a raised surround and cornice at the north end. Two-window returns are present, with a step up to an inserted doorway on the South return. A lower, single-story section with a five-by-seven window range extends from the north end, in two sections, and features a parapet ramped up at the southern end. Rubbed red brick arches are above four doors and the six-pane sashes are the same as the main range.

Internally, a rear staircase from the late 19th century runs against the wall to a formerly large, open first floor. There are plain stone fire surrounds. The staircase has been moved from its original position to the west end.

Historically, John Dickens, the father of Charles Dickens, worked in these offices between 1817 and 1823, where the building contained the Navy Pay Office on the first floor. The lower west area was originally built for offices used by the Commissioner and his staff, a clerk’s office on the first floor, and a waiting lobby at the east end. The presence of such specialist pay offices reflects the size and complexity of the dockyard in the 18th century. The building occupies a prominent position within the complete Georgian dockyard.