OLD DEVONPORT . UK
www.olddevonport.uk
 

ROYAL DOCKYARD  |  SOUTH YARD

SCRIEVE BOARD (S162)

The Scrieve Board, South Yard.
©  Property Services Agency, Department of the Environment.

The Scrieve Board lies in the former South Yard of the Royal Dockyard, between Building Slips numbers 4 and 5.

The seaward end of the Scrieve Board, South Yard.
©  Property Services Agency, Department of the Environment.

Originally built during the 1760s as a building slip, it was covered over between 1814 and 1821 to give protection to the wooden vessels under construction or repair.  The wooden covering, thought to have been derived from a design by Sir Robert Seppings, Surveyor of the Navy, was at the time amongst the widest roof spans in the British Isles and Europe.  It was subsequently floored over for use as a Scrieve Board, or Drawing Board, where full-sized drawings of finished sections of steelwork were drawn or painted on to the wooden floor following on from design work in the Mould Loft.

As it survives at present, the timber frame has modern corrugated steel sides and a metal sheet mansard roof.  The original building slip is still beneath the wooden flooring, which is supported on brick pillars.  Historic England states that the structure measures 88.7 metres in length and 31.4 metres in width, or 291 feet by 103 feet.  Some evidence of drawn or painted markings remain on the wooden floor.

Some supposedly temporary structures have been added in recent years.

Under the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 the Scrieve Board has Listed Building Grade 2* status.