Priddy's Hard

Construction of the new powder magazine on land within the ramparts commenced in 1771. The Grand Magazine (as it became) was enclosed with a high brick wall to assist with security and to ensure no contraband items were brought into the magazine; these items included ferrous objects (to reduce the risk of sparks), alcohol and smoking materials. It took six years for the complex to be completed. The site needed to be accessible by boat: new gunpowder would be delivered by barge from the Royal Powder Mills at Faversham and Waltham Abbey and then conveyed to and from ships using small sailing vessels called hoys. It was initially assumed that the gunpowder barrels would be unloaded on the hard…

In 1804, offshoots of the Royal Laboratory (Woolwich) had been established in Portsmouth and Plymouth, their design overseen by the Comptroller, William Congreve. Forty years later the decision was taken to move the Portsmouth Laboratory (which was mostly concerned with the manufacture of small arms ammunition) from Portsea to the more secure surroundings of Priddy's Hard. This took place in 1847-8, with the design of the new complex closely following that of Congreve's original. It marked the start of what was to be a pronounced change of emphasis at Priddy's Hard: from storage to manufacturing.

The oldest part of the site is now open to the public as the Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower, which opened in 2001; in 2013 it became a constituent part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. A new Millennium footbridge from Gosport town centre was constructed to aid the redevelopment and access to the area. New housing was built around parts of the original site, including an imitation of the early 19th-century Officers' Residence (demolished in the 1950s) which faces the footbridge. In 2004 an arson attack led to the demolition of the sizeable grade II-listed New Shell Store (being used by the council as a warehouse to store wheelie bins) that stood within the Royal Laboratory…