PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The Royal Naval Armament Depot is located in the Ernesettle district of Plymouth, on the east bank of the river Tamar. It replaced the old Royal Naval Ordnance Depot at Bull Point. On November 8th 1921 the Government bought some land at Ernesettle from Mr R E Cocks and Others for £14,500. The area had been recovered from the sea by its previous owner, Mr Ernest Elliott, whose contractors, Messrs Thomas Thompson & Sons, had built an embankment across the inlet of the river Tamar in 1854. The first storage magazines, four in number, were completed in 1926. These housed depth charges that had been prepared at the Ordnance Depot at Bull Point and transported around to Ernesettle by barge. A 2ft 6ins gauge railway was also constructed at that time to enable trucks to be pushed by hand into the magazines from the original quay. In 1938 the Depot was enlarged by cutting twelve more underground magazines in to the hillside and a new laboratory. On Sunday July 3rd 1938 the Ernesettle (Admiralty) Siding was brought in to use by the Southern Railway. It could accommodate up to 50 wagons but was only accessible from the St Budeaux direction so all traffic had to go via Devonport Goods Yard. Transporting explosives by road was considered to be dangerous in the extreme so it did not concern the authorities that there was no road access to the site. Rail transport was considered to be acceptable but the preferred option was to transport the goods by water. To facilitate this a new 600 feet long jetty was completed in July 1941. Ernesettle operated as a sub-depot of RNAD Bull Point until 1939 when it was decided to give it its own staff and canteen facilities. Following war damage at Bull Point in the air raids of April 1941, during which Armament Supply Officer, Mr A McHutchon, and Messenger, Mr J Wilson, were killed, it was decided to open a new headquarters building at Ernesettle. This was officially opened in the November. In December 1942 a further 6 acres of land to the north was purchased for £1,750. Also some sub-depots were opened, in August 1942 at Sutton Road, Coxside, Plymouth, where empty mines and sinkers were stored, and in March 1943 at Marsh Mills. The latter was closed again on December 15th 1944 just four days after a new one outside the City at Wrangaton had been opened. Even the disused Cann Tunnel on the old Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway was brought into use in October 1944. Sometime around 1960 the RN Torpedo Depot in the Barracks was closed down and their functions were transferred to RNAD Ernesettle, where a new workshop was erected. This was followed in 1971 by new buildings to house guided missiles and in 1972 a technical office block was added, which became known as "The Ernesettle Hilton". Between 1978 and 1981 a great rationalisation took place and many of the buildings that were no longer required have been demolished. Another fatality was the narrow-gauge railway, which in March 1980 was replaced by a system of roads. Some of the rails are now owned by the Plym Valley Railway.
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