Royal Naval Dockyard
Protected by high walls and gun towers, the Naval Dockyard occupied an 80-acre site. Work on building the dockyard began in 1814 and by 1890 some 2,000 men were employed constructing ships for the Royal Navy.
This early postcard shows the massive roof constructions covering the building slips in the dockyard.
Among the many notable vessels built were the 140-gun Duke of Wellington in 1853, the 49-gun battleship Empress of India in 1891 and the first-class armoured cruiser Duke of Edinburgh in 1904. The Naval Dockyard closed in 1926, and remaining traces include the grey-stone buildings of The Terrace and the recently restored Avenue and Dockyard Chapel. The western end of the dockyard is still occupied by the Royal Navy and here can be found a former oakum store, the pickling pond and a couple of slipways. The deep water Carr Jetty was built in 1898 and superseded Hobbs Point as the quay for fitting out warships. The 12 foot high dockyard wall is still more or less complete, except for breaches to allow a railway line and, more recently, a new road to the Irish ferry terminal. Inside the orginal dock gates is a mural depicting the badges of all the regiments which garrisoned the town or a century and a half.
It was originally intended that the market hall would be within the dockyard wall. When this plan was changed the wall had to be diverted around the market, creating a blind spot which was not covered by the artillery in the two gun towers. Consequently this section of wall was fitted with musketry loopholes which are still visible. Outside the Dockyard, in Fort Road, are the remains of the Admiralty gasworks dating from 1855. The nearby South Pembrokeshire Hospital was built as a Naval Hospital in 1902 and was extended by the RAF in World War II.
