Shed For Empty Powder Cases and Barrels (Building 418) , Museum Buildings, to SW of Camber

Details

1137/0/131 PRIDDY'S HARD 19-JAN-90 Shed for Empty Powder Cases and Barrel s (Building 418), Museum Buildings, to SW of Camber (Formerly listed as: PRIDDY'S HARD Store, on SW side of Camber)

GV II Barrel and powder-case store, now part of Museum complex. 1859. Brick in Flemish garden wall bond, slate on composite timber and steel roof.

A hipped shed attached to the Rolling Way (qv) and lying N/S, its long W side adjoining (Bldg 312 qv, the Empty Powder Case Store). Some original 2-light 6-pane casements remaining, one on the short end by the Rolling Way, and two to the E, with door opening to the Camber (qv); walls are painted brick within, and the collar rafter roof, with close boarding, which is - unusally - not limewashed, is reinforced by suspension and tie rods in 7-bay format. New opening in S end.

HISTORICAL NOTE: One of a number of such stores at Priddy's Hard, all associated with the introduction of shells into naval service. Each shell was individually packed into its own wooden box. This was at first a timber-framed and clad building rebuilt in brick as a magazine by 1865; it is argued that the original roof structure was lifted and retained, then reseated on the new walls, and this may account for its unusual compound form, the rods inserted at that time. The Rolling Way from the Laboratory magazine and converted shell-filling rooms (demolished) passed through this building to the new 'C' Magazine (Building 435, qv), as part of the transit sequence, established for the shell-filling system introduced in the 1860s. This building thus directly relates to the greatly enhanced introduction of shells into naval service during a period of rapid development in the science of naval warfare and fortifications.

The magazines and related structures at Priddy's Hard date from the late 18th century. The site's expansion from the mid 19th century was closely related to the development of land and sea artillery and the navy's transition from the age of sail, powder and solid shot to the Dreadnought class of the early 1900s. Priddy's Hard retains the best-preserved range of structures that relate to this remarkable history of continual enlargement and adaptation, one that encompasses that of Britain's dominance as a sea power on a global scale. For further historical details on this site, see the description for 'A' Magazine.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

500111

Legacy System:

LBS

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