Tarring and Wheel House (S 136) and Tarred Yarn House (S 137) is a Grade II* listed building in the Plymouth local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 August 1999. A Industrial Revolution Industrial building.
Tarring and Wheel House (S 136) and Tarred Yarn House (S 137)
- WRENN ID
- moated-spire-willow
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Plymouth
- Constituency
- Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP: Luke Pollard (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 August 1999
- Type
- Industrial building
- Period
- Industrial Revolution
- Address
- Tarring and Wheel House (S 136) and Tarred Yarn House (S 137), South Yard, City of Plymouth
- OS grid reference
- SX 451 542
- Coordinates
- 50.36781, -4.17808
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
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.
Local climate
Tarring and Wheel House (S 136) and Tarred Yarn House (S 137) sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 990 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 80% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 9 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 91% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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Nearby listed buildings
- Dockyard Wall Extending from East of Ropery Complex to East of Number 1 Slip
- White Yarn House (S 135)
- East Ropery, Formerly Spinning House (S 132), and Attached Retaining Walls
- Tarred Yarn Store
- Master Ropemakers House (S 103) and Attached Railings and Garden Wall Turncocks House
- Crown and Column Public House
- Devonport Guildhall and Attached Walls
- Joiners Shop (So 95)
- Devonport Column
- Master Ropemakers Office (S 97 and 98)