Former Receiving Room At Former Royal Naval Armaments Depot 130M North Of Entrance Lodge (Marchwood Yacht Club Offices)

The former Receiving Room at the former Royal Naval Armaments Depot, Marchwood

This building is the former Receiving Room forming the north side of the rectangular enclosure around Magazine A (No.1) at Marchwood. It was built between 1814 and 1816 as an integral part of the depot, using plans drawn up by Lieutenant-General Sir William Congreve, Bt., Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery and Controller of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich. The building is constructed in red brick and originally had a slate roof.

The Receiving Room is a simple oblong building in plan. A cambered arch opening occupies the centre of its north elevation, corresponding to a gateway on the opposite side of the Magazine enclosure wall. This central entrance originally opened towards the former pier to the north and the magazine to the south. The original pitched slate roof has been replaced with battened felt, hipped to the ends. The south elevation contains eight windows, each with a small stone ledge beneath, arranged four to either side of the central entrance. The interior fittings of the magazines are no longer present.

Background and History

The threat of French invasion in 1779 and the Napoleonic Wars prompted a dramatic reform in how gunpowder was stored and issued in Britain. Previously, storage required bombproof structures, usually old fortifications or massively vaulted buildings. Gunpowder production was centred at two sites: Waltham Abbey and Faversham, both established in the 17th century and acquired by the Crown in the 18th century. A new system was introduced whereby powder was stored at eight depots distributed across the country. These depots were located at Purfleet, Tilbury, Gravesend, Upnor Castle, Priddy's Hard, Tipner Point (both within Portsmouth Harbour), Keyham Point (Devonport), and Picket Field in Berkshire. Additional supplies were held in a magazine in Hyde Park for London, and in floating magazines in the River Medway, at Portsmouth and at Plymouth.

In 1811, the Board of Ordnance decided to increase the number of depots and replace floating magazines with permanent facilities. Four new magazines were consequently built at Dorchester, Carmarthen, North Hyde and Marchwood. Marchwood became the largest of these four and remained in service the longest.

Gunpowder at this time was stored in barrels, each containing 90 lbs. The Marchwood site was intended to store 20,000 barrels. Initially the design proposed a single enormous magazine, but by 1807 the Board of Ordnance recognised the importance of separate buildings for examining powder and other functions. After extensive deliberation, it was decided to construct three magazines positioned as far apart as possible, each with capacity for 6,800 barrels. The design incorporated Congreve's revolutionary 'soft top' roofs, which had low resistance and allowed accidental blasts to go upwards rather than outwards. It also featured hollow wall construction, patented by John Groves in 1809, to reduce damp penetration. A canal to move barrels by barge between magazines was built into the design; this small canal, thought to be unique for such purposes, ran just south of the magazines. The powder stored at Marchwood supplied the smaller Portsmouth magazines at Priddy's Hard and Tipner Point, as well as the fleet off Spithead.

The three original magazines, together with ancillary buildings and the perimeter wall, were constructed between 1814 and 1816. Magazine A (No.1) is the only surviving original magazine. Magazines D (No.2) and G (No.3) were destroyed in 1940. The Receiving Room, forming the north side of the rectangular enclosure around Magazine A and built at the same time, was originally constructed as a Shoe Room for changing into specialised magazine clothing.

Four additional magazines were added in 1856–7 following shortcomings revealed by the Crimean War. This effectively constituted a second foundation of Marchwood, increasing storage capacity to three magazines of 14,400 barrels and one of 9,600 barrels. By 1864, according to The Times, it was the largest magazine in the country, with capacity for 76,000 barrels. The canal was by then superseded by a roller way. The Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1856, and the War Office assumed its responsibilities. In 1890, control of Marchwood passed to the Navy. The Receiving Room was extended in 1899 for use as a cordite store. Cordite, introduced in the 1890s, was considered to have relatively benign qualities, and exposed metal was no longer deemed dangerous in cordite magazines, though temperature control became necessary.

Marchwood Depot was wound down soon after, and several of its magazines were destroyed by bombing in 1940. The Depot closed in 1961.

Despite the loss of some of its elements, the Receiving Room's floor plan, relationship with the Magazine, and quality of brickwork testify to its original concept and usage. It dates from a period marking a new approach to gunpowder storage, with no similar listed examples elsewhere. It is integral to Magazine A's construction and has strong group value with other structures at the Marchwood Depot.