Summary
An early C19 harbour and pier designed and built by John Rennie and Joseph Whidbey, for the watering of ships in Plymouth Sound.
Reasons for Designation
Bovisand Harbour and Pier, constructed 1816-24, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons.
* Architectural interest: an elegant and confident design for a suitably robustly-built harbour, using quality stone;
* Historic interest: the renowned engineer and bridge builder John Rennie (1761-1821) is of national note, and this structure, built to his designs, is given added interest by its association with him;
* Location and setting: as a visual counterpoint to Rennie's substantial Plymouth Breakwater, the harbour has group value. It also contributes to the setting of Fort Bovisand, to its landward side.
History
The fortifications around the port of Plymouth and the naval base at Devonport were first established in the late C15 and have been modified steadily as weapons technology has advanced, and as military threats have changed. As the use of the port by ships increased, and the principal Royal Navy base was established there in the late C17, vital supplies of water could not be adequately supplied from Plymouth alone. Streams running into bays at the entrance to Plymouth Sound, at Cawsand in the west and Bovisand in the east, were used for watering. Bovisand is a corruption of Buoy Sand, the name marked on charts from at least the C17 and on Gardner's Map of 1784, which implies the use of marker buoys by the boats servicing anchored ships with barrels of water filled from the stream. The location could not be used when there was a southerly winds or gales due to the danger of wrecking in the Sound.
The frequent danger to shipping in Plymouth Sound posed by the adverse conditions was not addressed until 1788 when the Master Attendant of Devonport Dockyard, William Smith, proposed the construction of a breakwater at the entrance to the Sound. The plan was rejected, but by the early C19, following further shipwrecks and the recognition that a safer harbour would benefit the navy and the prosperous merchant trade in Plymouth, the idea was revisited. In 1806, the renowned engineer and bridge builder John Rennie (1761-1821) and the Master Attendant at Woolwich Dockyard, Joseph Whidbey, carried out a survey for the construction of a breakwater. A scheme was eventually agreed and approved in 1811 and work began on the breakwater in March 1812. By the time of the building of the breakwater it had also been noted that the anchorage in Bovisand Bay was inadequate for the needs of the larger C19 vessels and Rennie and Whidbey were instructed to create a scheme for the improved method of watering ships at Bovisand. This resulted in the construction in 1816-24 of a stone reservoir to collect the stream, and a pipe network to carry the water to a new harbour and pier to the north-west of the bay. Upon the death of Rennie in 1821, both the Plymouth Breakwater (qv.) and harbour schemes were completed by his son, Sir John Rennie (1794-1874) and Whidbey.
The mid-C19 was marked by a period of growing political and military concerns over French foreign policy and the development of an arms race between the two nations. The headland above Bovisand Bay, Staddon Heights, was one of the key strategic positions from which Plymouth could be defended and a battery had been established there in c.1780. With the increased threat to the port and naval base, the fortifications were strengthened and Staddon Point Battery (qv.) was completed in 1847, overlooking Bovisand Harbour. Furthermore, the Royal Commission of 1859 considered the need for modern defences to protect Royal Dockyards, ports and arsenals; and their recommendations for Plymouth resulted in the completion of six new coastal batteries and a ring of eighteen land forts and batteries. These were based on three principal forts which are located at Tregantle on the Cornish side of Plymouth harbour, and Crownhill and Staddon on the Devon side. The land forts and batteries were linked by a system of military roads protected from the likely direction of attack by earth traverses and cuttings. Fort Staddon was built between 1861- 69 as the main work of the Staddon Heights defences. Further defence works included Breakwater Fort (qv.) from 1861, which was built 100 yards behind the centre of the breakwater, and Fort Bovisand (qv.), built below Staddon Point Battery between 1861 and 1871.
Bovisand Pier and Harbour is shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1894, with a crane marked on the wharf, a capstan on the jetty, and a triangulation point on the end of the pier. On the Second Edition of 1907, two Defence Electric Light emplacements (searchlights) are shown on the pier, and mooring rings are marked on the pier and harbour. The slipway behind the wharf appears to have been dugout and constructed in the mid-late C20, as shown on the OS Maps of 1962 and 1978. A navigation light is shown at the end of the pier on the 1978 Map. In the late 1970s one of the searchlight emplacements on the pier was removed and the other altered to form an office for diving centre that has been established at Fort Bovisand and the harbour.
Details
A harbour and pier of 1816-24 by John Rennie and Joseph Whidbey, with an altered Defence Electric Light (searchlight) emplacement of c.1900.
MATERIALS: constructed of shale and rubble infill, faced in Oreston limestone blocks with Dartmoor granite corner blocks. The searchlight is constructed of concrete and brick.
DESCRIPTION: the harbour and pier is L-plan, facing north-west, with a short north arm or jetty projecting from the demi-round north-west corner. Granite steps lead down to water level from the pier. The searchlight emplacement on the north-west corner has been much-altered. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the late-C20 steel lookout structure fixed to the north-west corner is not of special architectural or historic interest.
