Officers House Number 1 And Attached Walls And Railings, Royal William Victualling Yard

Officer's House No.1 is a house and associated walls, railings, and ancillary buildings, now used as offices, dating to approximately 1830-32. It was designed by Sir John Rennie Jnr for the Victualling Board. The building is constructed of granite ashlar with central lateral stacks at each end, and has a slate hipped mansard roof. Rubble garden walls are also present.

The architectural style is Late Georgian. The plan features a double-depth layout with a central stair.

The house is three storeys high, with a basement and attic, and has a five-window front. All four sides have banded detailing to the ground floor with a plat band, cornice, and parapet. Basement windows are set in shallow recesses and are flat-headed with hornless 6/6-pane sashes. The basement also has segmental-arched 3/6-pane sashes. The northwest entrance side has a windowless ground floor with steps leading up to a central segmental-arched doorway featuring double doors; each door has five sunken panels and a five-pane overlight. A 6/6-pane sash window is located above the doorway on the first floor. The garden front has steps and a basement area with a central half-glazed door and overlight. The southeast return has a single first-floor window to the rear. Dormers with flat heads and lead cladding, containing 8/8-pane sashes (two to the front and rear, and one to the southeast end), are visible on the roof.

The interior includes a central dogleg staircase with a curtail and stick balusters. Original cornices, panelled doors, and shutters are also present.

Attached cast-iron railings with curved bars, finials, and Greek Revival details enclose the side and rear basement areas. A tall rubble wall, approximately 30 metres long, extends to the southeast, enclosing the rear garden and connecting to former stables. This wall has ashlar pilaster strips and segmental-arched doors, and a carriage store with a round-arched entrance at its southeastern end. The wall continues along the southern perimeter of the site. A rear garden wall links with the Yard perimeter wall and separates the garden from that of Officer’s House No.2.

Historically, senior naval officers were traditionally provided with accommodation at naval yards. By 1890, this house served as the residence of the Superintendent of the Stores. The building is notable for its significance within the context of Sir John Rennie’s overall layout, representing one of the most remarkable and complete early 19th-century industrial complexes in the country, and a unique English example of Neo-Classical planning of a state manufacturing site.