Rear Retaining Wall Extending Approximately 400 Metres, Royal William Victualling Yard

The rear retaining wall at the Royal William Victualling Yard, extending approximately 400 metres, was built between 1827 and 1831 by Sir John Rennie Jnr for the Victualling Board. Constructed from limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and featuring a granite ashlar arch, the wall runs east from the southwest corner of the site, returning to meet the Dockyard wall and forming the site's perimeter.

The exterior showcases a high, battered retaining wall, with the top three-metre section serving as the southern perimeter wall. This wall is built from stone excavated from the site and includes lacing courses and a plain coping. It features four round-arched coal store entrances, each set within matching relieving arches and equipped with double doors. Additionally, behind the Old Cooperage, there is a rubble dogleg wall that extends from the retaining wall and ramps down to an ashlar pier, which formerly enclosed the mason's yard.

The wall serves as an impressive backdrop to the victualling buildings, highlighting the significant scale of the project. The Royal William Victualling Yard is recognized as one of the most remarkable and complete early 19th-century industrial complexes in the country, representing a unique English example of Neo-Classical planning for a state manufacturing site.