Clarence Steps, South West Quay Wall And 2 Bollards, Royal William Victualling Yard

SX 4553 740-1/64/729

PLYMOUTH CREMYLL STREET, Stonehouse Clarence Steps, SW Quay wall and 2 bollards, Royal William Victualling Yard

GV I

Landing steps, gates and railings, quay wall and bollards. 1826-31, by Sir J Rennie Jnr, for the Victualling Board. Granite ashlar with cast-iron gates and railings. Quay walls extend for approx. 150m SW from the entrance to the Basin ( qv) to the Steps. Central Imperial stair flanked by quadrant walls. Steps curve up to a central platform, with central steps leading to wide piers with vermiculated base, plinth, panelled sides, cornice and coping; cast-iron double gates have central panels with fouled anchors, and matching railings above the steps extend round each side and enclose the lamp (qv). The quay, of channelled ashlar, extends approx. 280m NE to meet that of the Dock Basin (qv). SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: pair of bollards each approx. 2m from the corners of the projecting front section of the Brewhouse (qv), square section, concave sides with wooden strips, and round top inscribed "FLETCHER AND SONS/SOUTHAMPTON/1830". HISTORY: construction of the Quay accounted for much of the overspend on Rennie's estimate for the Yard, and the Steps were added to the plan for the Yard in 1827. Part of a group with the North West Quay Wall and Basin (qv) forming the main landing quay for the Yard. The Yard is one of the most remarkable and complete early C19 industrial complexes in the country, and a unique English example of Neo-Classical planning of a state manufacturing site. (Sources: Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants: The Royal William Victualling Yard, stonehouse: 1994: 47-52; The Mariner's Mirror: Coad J: Historic Architecture of HM Naval Base Devonport 1689-1850: London: 1983: 382-390).

Listing NGR: SX4595153405