East Ropery, Formerly Spinning House (S 132), And Attached Retaining Walls

The East Ropery, formerly the Spinning House (S 132), is a Grade I listed building with attached retaining walls located in the South Yard of Devonport Dockyard.

The spinning house was originally constructed between 1763 and 1771, but was gutted by fire in 1812. It was rebuilt between 1813 and 1817 to designs by Edward Holl, the architect to the Navy Board. The building was reduced in length at its northern end following bomb damage in 1941.

The building is constructed of random limestone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings, beneath a pitched roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting. The south gable end is rendered, while the truncated north end, which has been closed off with concrete block, is clad with metal sheeting. Window openings are fitted with cast-iron frames and panelled shutters of either iron or timber (the latter being replacements), with small panes of clear glazing above. External steel escape stairs have been added but are not of architectural interest.

The East Ropery comprises a 57-bay range of three storeys with cellars. The exterior features a plinth, rusticated quoins, a moulded eaves cornice, and a coped south gable, with plain surrounds to the openings. Both the west and east elevations display a largely symmetrical arrangement of window openings with segmental-arched stone surrounds. Additional openings, some blocked, formerly enabled the transfer of twine between the spinning house and the adjacent laying house (largely demolished) and the tarred yarn stores. At the southern end of the east elevation, a corrugated metal lean-to marks the position of the former engine house. Along the west and east elevations are doorways at irregular intervals, including several former taking-in doors with hoist platforms. The south gable end features a wide segmental-headed entrance with wooden double doors to the lower left; three symmetrically-arranged windows to the first and second floors; and an oculus in the gable. Brick-lined arched passageways run beneath the central part of the building and immediately to the north of the north end.

The plan is linear and rectangular with an open arrangement, though the last five bays at the southern end have a slightly wider footprint than the rest of the building.

Internally, the building retains its fireproof frame of considerable significance. This comprises a central aisle of cast-iron columns connected vertically by spigots, supporting T-section transverse beams with curved upper web and spanner ends meeting over the columns, with joists slotted into the sides. Most floors are laid in York stone slabs to reduce fire risk. Some fittings related to rope-making survive, including iron pulley wheels, transmission brackets, and iron guide rails. The roof structure combines cast iron in compression for the principal rafters and cruciform diagonal struts, with wrought iron in tension forming the round-section king and queen struts and square-section ties. These extend both transversely between the principals and longitudinally along the centre of the building.

Rubble retaining walls extend approximately 90 metres to the south-east side in three sections, formed by a ramp leading down to the tunnels beneath the East Ropery.

The importance of Plymouth as a base for English fleets in the Western Approaches was recognised in the late 17th century, and the construction of a dockyard was instigated by William III. A ropeyard was laid out in the 1690s on an east-west axis along the southern side of the dockyard. The various stages involved in rope production required a number of separate buildings with different functions. The ropeyard was designed to facilitate efficient production and formed a distinct part of the dockyard. The processes of spinning hemp into twine and the laying of rope took place in separate spinning and laying houses, which were the most distinctive parts of the ropery at Devonport.

During the remodelling of the dockyard in the mid-18th century, new ropeyard buildings, including twin spinning and laying houses, were erected on the eastern boundary of the enlarged dockyard. Following the gutting of the spinning house by fire in 1812, plans were drawn up by Edward Holl to 'restore' the ropery, using cast and wrought iron in place of timber, with stone flagged floors. The new spinning house, which was renamed the East Ropery in 1815, appears to have been largely completed by late 1817, at which time it was considered one of the largest fireproof buildings in the country. Rope production continued until 1941. During World War II, as a result of bomb damage, the laying house was reduced to its foundations and the spinning house to the east was shortened by almost a third at its northern end. Between 1945 and 1969 the Spinning House served as a training centre for shipwright apprentices; it is now used partly for storage, though much of the building remains unoccupied.