Building 43, Rnad Bull Point

Building 43 at RNAD Bull Point is an empty barrel and case store constructed between 1856 and 1857. The building is rectangular in plan, built of squared, coursed limestone rubble, with rough rubble on the north-west side, and has a corrugated sheet roof. It is two storeys high and has two gables, with a nine-window arrangement on the south-east elevation. The gables have central doorways with boarded doors, and the north-west gables feature tall round-arched windows with glazing bars above the doorways. The south-east elevation has evenly spaced windows: round-arched 9/9-pane horned sashes on the ground floor and 6/6-pane horned sashes with lintels above. The north-west side is windowless, the gable ends displaying toothed stonework, and the side wall suggests a further section was intended but never built. Inside, the building has timber trusses. Bull Point was the final project of the Board of Ordnance, which was abolished in 1856, and provided storage for 40,000 barrels of powder. Case stores are related to the introduction of shells into naval service, with each shell individually packed into a wooden box. The buildings at Bull Point, designed to hold and process ordnance, are stylistically consistent with the magazines and reflect high standards of design by the Ordnance Board, comparable to the fortifications and barracks from the 17th century. They provide a remarkable example of integrated factory planning of the period. For further historical information, see Building 13.