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The Royal Naval Armaments
Depot at Marchwood Opened in 1815
The picture shows the old
jetty and the magazine buildings. Magazine 'A' is the building in line
with the jetty. Ordnance House which is in the centre of
the picture was occupied by the Commanding Officer.
To ensure that a country is well defended, its arms and
munitions must be safely and securely stored. As long ago as the early Middle Ages, when England had no
standing army or navy, the king's stock of arms was
kept under the surveillance of the Keeper of the
King's Wardrobe in the Tower of London.
As the art of gun design and the production
of arms became more skilled, the status of the
office was raised and from 1414 onwards there was a succession
of 'Masters of our Works, Engines, Cannons and Other Kinds of Ordnance'.
Towards the end of the
sixteenth century, allegations of corruption together
with the deteriorating quality of weaponry led to the appoint- ment
of a Commission of Investigation and the re-shaping of the Office of
Ordnance. In 1598 the department was put into the charge of The Great
Master who controlled the disposition and storage of military and naval
armaments and for the following 250 years, this administrative arrangement
changed very little.
In about 1667, an ordnance depot was established in
Portsmouth which immediately became one of the
country's most important arms stores outside the
Tower of London. Explosives were kept in the Square Tower at
the south-west end of Portsmouth High Street, but during the next century,
fears grew over the proximity of the magazine to the heavily Populated
town and in the 1760s this culminated in a successful public petition
for its removal.
Weapons and hardware continued to be stored in the Square Tower, but
during the 1770s, all the explosives were moved across the
harbour for storage in the massive gunpowder
magazine at Priddy's Hard - the oldest of the four
depots making up the complex of R.N.A.D. Gosport. Priddy's
Hard was built in 1771, and although six thousand barrels of gunpowder
could be stored there, it was necessary to disperse the ammunition
and gunpowder in case the depot ever came under attack. Satellite
magazine stores were built to serve this purpose and one of these
was the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Marchwood.
R.N.A.D. Marchwood was built some 40 years after Priddy's Hard came
into use and was opened in 1815. Historically this
date was significant as it was not only a time when
Britain was undergoing industrialization and consequent
social changes, but it was also in this year that Britain defeated
France at Waterloo, making her one of the strongest nations in Europe.
Priority was naturally given to maintaining this superiority and
ensuring that the country remained well protected.
The building of this small depot at Marchwood may have appeared
insignificant in the grand scale of things but its
role was to prove important during its 146 year
life. Plans to build a satellite magazine on the
west side of the River Test were initiated in 1812
under the instruction of the Inspector General of
Ordnance.
The site at Marchwood was purchased by the Ordnance
Office from Sir Charles Mills for £1,200 and
three years later, staffed by a storekeeper
named R.B. Ady, a Foreman and two Watchmen, a three magazine depot
capable of storing 21,000 barrels of gunpowder, was opened. Being
highly dangerous it was imperative that the gunpowder was securely stored,
both to minimise the risk of accident and to keep it out of the reach of
would-be thieves.
Consequently each magazine had to be solidly constructed
with 21 inch thick brick walls which were double skinned and had
ventilation ports. The massive roofs were of half inch thick slates laid on top of clay tiles, with the soffits finished in one
inch thick elm boarding. To avoid the obvious hazard
from sparks, all metal work was non-ferrous and even
the one and a half inch thick coffered floors were
constructed using wooden pegs instead of nails. Copper was used for
other metal surfaces.
Outside, the magazines were surrounded by brick wails 11
feet high and 15 inches thick. They were also
separated by traverses of brick walls and blast
banks of earth 21 feet high. In addition to the
three magazines, the Depot consisted of an examining laboratory
with two rooms, a shifting house, a cooperage, two store rooms, a
boathouse, a powder pier and a hard. There were also barracks and offices.
It was necessary for security at Marchwood to be strict and in 1819
military sentries were introduced to the site. During the
next 72 years, while Marchwood was under the
jurisdiction of the Board of Ordnance and, later,
the War Office, the depot was under a 24 hour guard. This was carried
out by four military sentries and two watchmen who were labourers at
the depot. The exclusive duty of one of these watchmen would be to patrol
the river bank behind the magazines.
The strength of the military presence
varied over the years. The first detachment of the Royal Artillery
to be deployed at Marchwood in 1819 consisted of one sergeant with
12 N.C.0s. and men. The detachment in 1846 had one sergeant and fourteen gunners and in 1891, there were two officers, a
company of the Rifle Brigade and a surgeon with army
medical staff. The number of men posted to the depot
at any particular time is probably an indication of
the volume of gunpowder being stored there.
By the start of the 1850s, activity at Marchwood appears to have
diminished, as between October 1850 and March 1854,
the magazines were empty and depot houses were let
to coast-guards and civilians. However, Britain's
entry into the Crimean War (March 1854 - February 1856) immediately
led to the re-commissioning of the magazines and in 1856 four new
magazines were built. These were handed over to the War Office, which replaced the now abolished Ordnance Office, by the Royal
Engineer on July lst l857. The establishment site
now covered 7 acres and became triangular in shape.
Like the residents of Portsmouth a hundred years
earlier, the people of Southampton were concerned
about an armaments depot being so close to their homes.
In January 1876, when Marchwood was well stocked and fears were at
their worst, the Committee for the Transport and Storage of Powder was petitioned and the removal of the depot was demanded. The
Committee's president, Colonel C.M. Younghusband
reassured the people of Southampton that they were
in no danger and maintained there was nothing to
justify the removal of the establishment from the neighbourhood.
The Secretary of state for War agreed that under no circumstances could
he consent to the removal of the armaments depot. At
about this time, the stock at Marchwood ceased to be exclusively
gunpowder, and in 1877 one magazine was allocated
for small arms. In 1892 a second magazine was set
aside for Q.F. ammunition.
Naval vessels brought the consignments of gunpowder along Southampton
Water to Marchwood where they were delivered at the pier
head. The barrels were then, three at a time,
transported on magazine barrows along the pier to
the rolling stage for inspection by the cooper. The barrels
were then transferred to flat bottomed barges and ferried along the
canal to the magazines. Casual labour was sometimes employed to help convey the barrels to and from the magazines.
Throughout
the depot's life, few changes were made to the unloading and storage
procedures. Every effort was made to avoid accidents and spillages and
over the years strict regulations were enforced. For example, no barrels
were ever opened in the magazines but were taken to the Examining Rooms
for investigation. The barrels were constantly examined for faults such
as slackness in the hooping and if any defective barrels were discovered, they were immediately taken to the cooper to be
repaired.
The magazine floors were swept after every arrival
and dispatch of gunpowder and any areas that the
gunpowder had been carried over were sprinkled with water.
There were also strict rules concerning the men who
worked in the depot. The cooper and labourers for
instance were frequently assembled in the shifting
room where their clothing was searched for pipes and matches. Before
they were allowed to enter the magazines they had to change into jerseys
and woolen drawers which they wore under 'duck' frocks and trousers. Working parties employed from 1925 onwards were also
carefully searched for anything of a dangerous
nature. They too wore prescribed clothing and
special magazine shoes.
Royal Marine Light Infantry in
Marching Order
Two officers, 40 N.C.0s. and men of the Royal Marines Light Infantry
were detached to Marchwood under the authority of
Captain W.S. Cox. Life for these men appears to have
been relatively congenial compared to the rigours of
normal marine life. The officers, for example, were granted a special allowance of Is 6d a day in lieu of provisions, fuel and
mess expenses.
No.167 Admiralty Orders in Council 9th May
1892.
ALLOWANCE IN LIEU OF PROVISIONS, &c., TO OFFICERS,
ROYAL MARINES, SERVING AT NAVAL POWDER MAGAZINES.
Whereas a detachment of Royal Marines is now stationed at
Marchwood
Powder Magazine in consequence of its transfer from the
War Office to the Admiralty. We are of opinion that the Officers
serving with the detachment there, and all other Royal Marine
Officers on detached duty of a similar character, should receive
a special allowance of Is. 6d. a day, in lieu of Provisions, Fuel,
or Lights, and in aid of Mess expenses. We beg leave
therefore humbly to recommend that Your Majesty will
be graciously pleased by, Your Order in Council to sanction
the issue of this allowance as from the 1st. September 1891,
or such other date subsequent thereto as the Officers of the Royal
Marines may be employed on detached duty at any of the Naval
Powder Magazines, &c.
The Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury have signified their
concurrence in this proposal.
An Officer of The
Royal Marines Light Infantry.
It was during the time of the Marines' residence that a
windmill to supply fresh water was constructed at
the depot. The machine, 16 feet and
supported on a 70 foot high square steel trellis, was purchased from
John Wallis Titt's Iron Works in Warminster in 1873 for the
sum of £155. It was in operation by the following
year. For the next four years the windmill was in
use continuously but it appears to have been the cause of
grievance on more than one occasion.
In a letter dated 9th November 1898,
Captain Cox complained to the Naval Officer at Portsmouth
that for some considerable time the water has not
accumulated in the tank to the slightest degree.
Only three months later Captain Cox reported, It has
been found almost impossible and extremely dangerous to attempt to
stop the windmill from working during a storm or in a gale of wind.
At the turn of the century, the magazines were
full to capacity, acting as a reserve unit
for Portsmouth. Security was now undertaken
by the Dockyard Division of the Metropolitan Police.
At the outbreak of war in 1914, ammunition and the
bulk of the Navy's gunpowder were stored at
Marchwood, but between 1916 and 1918, all the magazines
were emptied so that cordite could be stored there instead. This
period saw a huge increase in the number of staff, from 21 at the begining
of the war to 103 in 1918.
During the 1920s, due to the reorganization of
the Metropolitan Police there was yet another
change in security arrangements when it was decided that
they should discontinue their service at Marchwood. Because the
reorganization was so extensive, it was introduced piecemeal, begining
with the country's arms depots then moving
onto the dockyards. Since the Royal Marines
had often undertaken a security role at depots and
dockyards in the past, they were a natural choice to replace the Metropolitan
Police. In 1923, the Royal Marine Police returned to Marchwood, staying
there until they were absorbed into the Admiralty Civil Police Force
in 1949
During the Second World War, Marchwood again acted as a reserve unit
but this time for Priddy's Hard at Gosport
and was the main depot for explosives for the
reserve fleet. On the night of 19th June 1940, however, the depot suffered
an air attack and 200 incendiary bombs caused the destruction of four
of Marchwood's magazines and a full storehouse. About 229,000 rounds
of Oerlikon ammunition together with 127,000 lbs of
cordite were detonated and the huge
explosions seriously damaged cottages a hundred yards away. Nine
thousand empty crates in the storehouse were also lost.
A second attack in December of that year destroyed yet another magazine
but by January 1942 all of the buildings destroyed
in the air raids had been rebuilt.
During the post war period Marchwood continued to provide storage space
for the overflow of ammunition from Priddy's Hard.
It also housed shells and small arms for
coastal minesweepers and anti-aircraft fire.
In the late 1950s the Navy began to cut down on the size of the Fleet,
weaponry had become refined and the location of
Marchwood was now considered to be
geographically unsuitable.
Marchwood Yacht Club
Aerial view of the jetty showing the buildings that are now
the club room and committee room. As you can see the boat compound was full
of trees which surrounded Ordnance House. The name can still be seen on the
pillars between the club and committee room.
Piling for the new power station in1953
Club room in the background
Committee Room
Power Station being built with MYC Jetty in
background at low tide. The jetty was demolished when the container dock
was built. The jetty had bronze rails running the full length which were
used to move the high explosives. The old jetty ran out at 90° to
Magazine 'A' and the Receiving Room. The Receiving Room is still on the foreshore. Dinghies were stored and launched from the
jetty steps. The old flag pole was removed because of rot and the base support structure can now
be seen at Hythe Marina.
Boats were lifted over the wall from the creek and stored
on the grass strip in front of the clubroom. Two cranes used to drive down
the narrow public road access and every boat was lifted out in one
weekend.
Zara
Seaview Mermaid
conversion
owned by Adrian & Mike Turner in 1973
The
single storey building used to be the first clubroom. You now drive through
this when approaching the club. 1983 
1998 
MYC Clubroom today |
Marchwood
Yacht Club