Royal William Yard, Plymouth

Region: South West

Summary: Listed Grade I, the Royal William Yard was built between 1825–31 as a victualling depot for the Royal Navy.

Description: It went out of military use in 1992 and was acquired by the South West Regional Development Agency. On the advice of English Heritage and Plymouth City Council a conservation plan was drawn up to enable the Yard to be developed whilst retaining its significance.
Issue: This set out the opportunities and constraints for the site and was a key document for all those who expressed an interest in its future redevelopment.
Strategy: Initially, the plan informed the conversion of the Clarence and Brewhouse buildings into a mixture of housing and leisure units.
Outcome: The success of this scheme gave the developer the confidence to purchase the entire site and the conservation plan was revised to inform their emerging designs.

Keywords: DESIGN IN CONTEXT; REGENERATION; MANAGEMENT PLANS

What's New?

  • Britain was the world’s first industrial nation and has a wealth of industrial heritage but many industrial sites have been lost or are at risk due to functional redundancy. English Heritage's survey has shown that the percentage of listed industrial buildings at risk is three times greater than the national average for listed buildings at risk.
  • The value of a well managed, protected and appreciated historic environment to both our quality of life and to the economy is well established. Heritage tourism contributes £20.6 billion to GDP a year whilst research shows that 93% of people think that in improving their local place it is important to save heritage assets.