Building MPM2027 - Former Cookhouse, Fort Cumberland

Single-storey mid-19th century brick building at Fort Cumberland, formerely a cookhouse. The rectangular building is situated to the south-east of the north bastion of the fort and runs paralell with the north-eastern curtain wall. An exact date of construction is not known, but the building is first shown on a plan of the fort dated 1861 when it is marked as a Cookhouse. It has been suggested that it may have been built as a result of the Royal Marine Artillery Headquarters being stationed at the fort in 1859, following the transfer of the fort from the War Department to the Board of Admiralty.

The building was converted for use as offices by English Heritage in the late 1990s and a building and photographic survey was carried out prior to the work taking place. Surviving evidence for the buildings use as a cookhouse included the remains of a large arched fireplace/cooking range with a corbelled chimney breast set into the centre of the south-west elevation.

The survey recorded four phases of construction:

Phase I (c1859)

Construction of building. Tall chimney and cooking range along south-western wall. Five rectangular sash windows in north-eastern wall with the main doorway at the southern end of the wall. Single sash window in south-eastern wall. Hipped roof with a squared louvre at either end of the ridge and small dormer windows on each side of the sloped hips of the roof. The mortises for the two louvres along the central ridge and the notches for the joining of the timbers forming dormer windows were recorded during the survey.

Phase II (1860-1886)

A structure, possibly a porch, was added to the northern end of the north-eastern elevation by 1886. No evidence of this structure was found to survive above ground or in the brickwork during the survey but it is shown on a plan dated 1886. It was thought that the window at the northern end of the elevation was converted into a doorway to provide access to the porch. The original doorway was blocked and the jambs removed. The worn Portland stone threshold and brick arch from the original doorway still survived and were recorded during the survey. A second chimney was built into the south-western elevation. The hearth/fireplace to this chimney was not visible when the survey was carried out.


Phase III (1901-1910)

During this phase the chimney stacks were lowered and capped. The louvres and dormer windows were removed and the roof re-tiled.


Phase IV (Later 20th Century, post-1910)

The building was divided internally into three spaces/rooms by two partition walls, each with a door giving access to the central space. The southern partition wall also had an internal window.

The north-western wall of the building had been demolished and rebuilt at some point after the Second World War, most likely for repair. This may have been due to Second World War bomb damage or subsidence, as the northern end of the north-eastern wall had evidence of damage which may have been due to one of these causes.

Fellows, David, 2001, Report on the Survey of the Cookhouse at Fort Cumberland (Bibliographic reference). SPM608.