OLD DEVONPORT . UK
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©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth
Webpage created: October 14, 2022
Webpage updated: October 26, 2022

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ROYAL DOCKYARD  |  SOUTH YARD

NUMBER 25 STORE, TARRING AND WHEEL HOUSE (S136)

Number 25 Store, the Tarring and Wheel House, South Yard.

Number 25 Store, the Tarring and Wheel House, South Yard.
The White Yarn Store can be seen in the background.
©  Property Services Agency, Department of the Environment.

Built in 1763 of limestone rubble, the building had two storeys plus a basement.  White Yarn was pulled from the White Yarn Store by capstans in the Wheel House through the Tarring House before it was passed to the Tarred Yarn House, where it was hung up to dry.  The yarn then went to the West Rope House for making into lengths of rope.

The south end is linked to Number 26 Store, the Tarred Yarn House, by a much later archway, seen in the picture above.  All doors in the building are made of iron for fire protection.

This is the building that contains the infamous Executioner's Chamber, with its trap door over a stone slab in the basement.  It is claimed to have been added in 1793 but it is also said to have been built by apprentices long after the Second World War as a joke.  It is recorded in 1975 so maybe 1793 is a joke too and it really should be 1973.

Under the Planning )Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and succeeding legislation Number 25 Store, Tarring and Wheel House, has Listed Building Grade 2* status.