Tarring And Wheel House (S 136) And Tarred Yarn House (S 137)

The Tarring and Wheel House and Tarred Yarn House, built in 1763, are located in Devonport Dockyard and are constructed from limestone rubble with dressings and a slate roof. The buildings feature a rectangular open plan and are two storeys high with a basement, arranged in a 5:1:2-bay range. The exterior includes rusticated quoins, a plat band, and a flat cornice leading to a parapet, with flat, eared surrounds to the openings. The northern Tarring House has two steep gables, three ground-floor casements, and a wider doorway between the northern pair with double iron doors, along with two first-floor windows. The southern Tarred Yarn House is wider and has similar architectural details, an altered central doorway with a 20th-century door, and two dated hoppers inscribed with "GR". The west side displays similar features. Connecting the two houses is a slightly later full-height archway with rusticated voussoirs and a brick inner soffit, cornice, and parapet.

Inside the Tarring House, the space is divided into three sections by diaphragm arches leading to brick vaults with iron doors for fireproofing. Notably, it contains a trap door and stone slab from 1793 in the basement. Historically, yarn was drawn from the White Yarn store by capstans in the Wheel House through the Tarring House before being transferred to the Tarred Yarn Store, where it was hung to dry. This process flow planning is an early example of efficiency in a naval dockyard context. Together with the White Yarn Store and Tarred Yarn Store, these buildings form one of the most complete tarring and yarn store complexes in a naval dockyard.