Former Magazine And Associated Blast Walls At Former Royal Naval Armaments Depot, 200M Wnw Of Entrance Lodge (Marchwood Yacht Club Offices)

The building is a former magazine, constructed between 1856 and 1857, situated 200 metres west-northwest of the entrance lodge (now occupied by the Marchwood Yacht Club offices). It forms part of the former Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Marchwood.

The magazine is built of red brick with roofs of grey slate laid to diminishing courses. The structure has a rectangular plan, divided into four bays by timber posts that support valleys to pitched roofs, which are hipped at the ends of each bay. Openings are defined by cambered, gauged brick arches. The long sides of the magazine have doors, while the end walls feature four sash windows with Portland stone sills.

The interior features softwood trusses and retains some barrel racks, a rare survival. The magazine is surrounded by mid-to-late 19th-century brick blast walls.

Historical records indicate the site was initially conceived in 1811 as a store depot, with plans for a 20,000-barrel magazine. However, three magazines, each with a capacity of 6,800 barrels, were ultimately built, incorporating an internal, L-shaped channel for transporting barrels by barge and a centrally-placed Shifting House. Following the Crimean War, the storage capacity was increased, leading to the construction of four new magazines in 1856-7 - three with a capacity of 14,400 barrels and one with 9,600 barrels. By 1864, Marchwood was reported to be the largest magazine in the Kingdom, capable of storing 76,000 barrels of powder. The establishment gradually wound down, and the magazines B, E, F, and G were destroyed by bombing in 1940. The site closed in 1961.