Number 2 Ship Shop (Building Number 1/208) Portsmouth, England

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SU 6200 NE BOILER ROAD (West side) HM Naval Base 774-1/17/189 No.2 Ship Shop (Building No 1/208)

GV II*

Alternatively known as: West Factory, BOILER ROAD HM NAVAL BASE Steam engineering works, now workshops. 1846-49 by Cpt Henry James RE, later alterations. Red brick in Flemish bond with granite and Portland stone dressings and brighter red brick gauged flat arches, corrugated iron roof with wrought-iron trusses. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, 25 bays. East elevation bays arranged symmetrically 2:1:4:1:4:1:4:1:4:1:2. A long range facing the Steam Basin in 5 sections, divided by projecting single bays with rusticated long and short quoins; giant round arches with fluted keystones framing windows; impost bands continued within arches; and pediments to bays 3, 13 and 23. Recessed bays are set in pairs between giant pilasters and have giant round brick arches with keystones framing windows. Ashlar plinth and eaves cornice with blocking course. small-paned 3-light cast-iron windows, tall and round-arched on ground floor, smaller and near semi-circular above; all with deep stone sills. At ground-floor impost level, rail for dockyard crane is supported on massive iron wall plates. On 1st floor, small hand crane and platform survive at bay 8, platform at bay 3, and the crane housings at bay 23. Rainwater downpipes set against projecting bays have heads dated 1847 and with initials 'VR' and fouled anchor. Roof skylight. Rear: similar but without pediments and most windows renewed; the ashlar eaves cornice and blocking course restricted to the projecting bays and the giant pilasters; the right- hand part of the building is concealed by the Smithery, and the central lower part by a low brick addition. Right return (north elevation): some renewed brickwork. Giant corner pilasters frame full-height round archway with rusticated long and short quoins; cornice below pediment. Left return similar, but with steel roller door to ground floor and C20 replacement metal windows above. INTERIOR: contains a massive internal iron frame of cast-iron beams with parabolic bottom flanges with matching bridging beams fitting into sockets, supporting brick jack arches; upper floor with iron beams with parabolic bottom flanges and cast sockets with timber joists. Gantry crane carried on brick corbel band at window impost level and, across windows, on metal girders with decorative arched braces. Cast-iron spiral stairs up to 1st floor. Roof boarded and with braced iron trusses. HISTORY: originally the West Factory, housing (S-N) the engine erecting shop, the heavy turning shop, the central punching and shearing shop, and the 2 N sections for boiler construction and repair, on the upper floor the millwrights' shop, light turning and fitting shop, pattern makers' shop and pattern store. Shaft drive was taken from an 80hp beam engine at the centre of the rear elevation. The original intention was for a site to the E of the Steam Basin, abandoned because the land was not ready, and James felt the final building was compromised by its narrow site. The frame is a mature design using cast-iron, proportionate to the anticipated load, both live and dead; the bridging beams are remarkably long examples. The planning of the Portsmouth steam engineering facility is in contrast to the much more integrated Quadrangle (qv) at Devonport. Of considerable historic interest as one of the first of the new generation of heavy engineering shops at Portsmouth and Devonport for the transition to a steam-powered fleet, with the related brass and iron foundries (qqv). (Sources: The Buildings of England: Lloyd D: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight: Harmondsworth: 1985: 416 ; The Portsmouth Papers: Riley RC: The Evolution of the Docks & Industrial Buildings in Portsmouth: Portsmouth: 1985: 16 ; Evans D: The Buildings of the Steam Navy: 1994: 9-11 ; Professional Papers of the Royal Engineers, Series 3: James H: Description of the Steam Basin, Docks and Factory: 1953: 88-92).