Former Examining Room And Associated Walls At Former Royal Naval Armaments Depot 130M North West Of Entrance Lodge (Marchwood Yacht Club Offices)

This is a former examining room, constructed in 1814 as part of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Marchwood. It stands 130 metres north west of the entrance lodge, now occupied by the Marchwood Yacht Club. The building was originally used for unheading barrels and inspecting their contents.

The structure comprises two large rooms, each with a hipped roof to front and rear, and entered via gabled porches containing six-panelled doors. Each room is flanked by sash windows with six panes. The building is surrounded by brick blast walls with gates to the north (front) and a blocked entrance to the south (rear). The brick blast walls are flanked by square piers, each featuring a round-headed recessed panel surmounted by a slightly projecting square panel. The walls are constructed from red brick, while the roofs are covered in grey slate laid to diminishing courses, with camber gauged brick arches above the openings.

The building’s history is linked to the development of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot, conceived in 1811 as a store depot similar to Tipner. Initial plans included magazines for 20,000 barrels, but the eventual construction involved three magazines, each with a capacity of 6,800 barrels and a barge channel for moving barrels. Further expansion occurred after the Crimean War, with additional magazines constructed between 1856 and 1857, leading to Marchwood becoming the largest powder magazine in the Kingdom by 1864, holding a capacity of 76,000 barrels. The depot was eventually wound down and closed in 1961; magazines B, E, F and G were destroyed during World War II.