Former Stables To Rear Of Dockyard Cottage

Former stables and carthouse, now offices. Built around 1826, likely by George Ledwell Taylor, the architect for the Navy Board, and Sir John Rennie, the engineer, and converted around 1980. The building is constructed of yellow brick with rubbed brick detailing to the heads of the windows, and has a slate hipped roof. It has a single-depth plan with a central carthouse and stables on either side.

The exterior is two storeys high, with a seven-window range. It is symmetrical, with a plat band, brick cornice, and parapet. The central section is set forward and features two wide, altered former cart entrances, now with late 20th-century boarding, beneath a central hay loft door. Former stable doors with three-pane overlights and late 20th-century doors are situated on either side. The outer windows are six-pane sashes, and the first-floor windows are also six-pane sashes. The building faces across a cobbled and paved stable yard.

The interior was largely remodelled in the late 20th century. Historically, the building housed the horses and carriage of the dockyard officers. Sheerness Dockyard is unique among Royal dockyards in that it was built all at once, and these stables are located within a little-altered corner of Sir John Rennie's original layout, which included offices, the chapel, and officers’ accommodation.