Building MPM787 - NUMBER 2 SHIP SHOP (BUILDING NUMBER 1/208)

Steam engineering works, now workshops. Built in 1846-49 by Captain Henry James RE, with later alterations. Also known as the 'West Factory'.

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 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.

Historic England, The National Heritage List for England (Index). SPM35.