Dockyard Museum, Former Office (So 32)

The Dockyard Museum, formerly the Pay Office, is a building located in Devonport Dockyard, constructed around 1780. It features roughly coursed limestone rubble with tooled ashlar dressings, a different type of limestone for the top floor, and a hipped Welsh slate roof with truncated stacks. The building has a T-plan layout with a central rear wing and stands three storeys high, presenting a symmetrical seven-window façade. Notable exterior details include rusticated quoins, a plat band, deep eaves, and segmental-arched surrounds for a 19th-century door on the left and an original panelled door on the right, both with 2-pane overlights and 19th-century horned six-over-six pane sash windows. The two-window returns and the rear wing exhibit similar fenestration, with the wing also featuring a left-hand side doorway with a four-panel door.

Inside, the upper floors boast raised ovolo panelling with a dentil box cornice, and the southern ends are divided into two rooms, each with eared architraves around the fireplaces. The main rooms contain large southern fireplaces with reeded architraves, and there are segmental-arched architraves for the panelled doors and shutters. The ground floor showcases quadripartite vaulting supported by later cast-iron columns, with panelled window shutters set in moulded architraves. The rear wing includes two opposing flights of stone dog-leg stairs with iron balusters and wreathed handrails, while the first floor features a safe room with an iron door.

Historically, the small first-floor rooms were designated for the Chief and Assistant Cashiers. This building is a remarkable example of an 18th-century office, significant for its early fireproof design that combines the functions of a pay office and guard house, reflecting the scale and complexity of operations at the Dockyard during the late 18th century.