Priddy's Hard

Priddy's Hard is a former military installation in Gosport on the south coast of England, named for the original landowner and the firm beach found there.

In 1750 by an Act of King George III the Board of Ordnance purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of agricultural land in Gosport and a boatyard from Jane Priddy and Fareham Vicar, Thomas Missing.

[1] In 1764, after a series of petitions sent to the Master-General of the Ordnance from the general public, the decision was made to remove gunpowder from Old Portsmouth, where it had been stored since the 1580s in the Square Tower.

In carrying powder from thence to the hoys about 400 yards (367 m) distance to the end of the Point, and by shaking the barrels together in a Cart there has been a train along that street, which in War time is the most popular part of the town.

None of the sites were considered ideal, including Priddy's Hard, the main concern being the closeness of the Royal Dockyard, this would eventually lead to its final closure.

Priddy's Hard was chosen due to the availability of the land (already owned by the Crown) and in December 1766 the decision was finally made by the Ordnance Board and the First Lord of the Admiralty.

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.

The resulting lack of storage capacity was highlighted during the Napoleonic Wars and as a consequence led to the use of hulks as floating gunpowder magazines in the reaches of Fareham Lake (beginning with HMS Bulldog in 1801).

[6] Thenceforward Priddy's Hard operated in tandem with the Board of Ordnance's other main Portsmouth facility, H.M. Gunwharf (not far from the Dockyard on the other side of the harbour), which stored items other than gunpowder (from cannons and gun carriages to small arms and cutlasses).

The pressure was somewhat relieved in 1796 by the construction of a magazine across the harbour at Tipner (the choice of location reflected the policy of the Duke of Richmond, Master-General of the Ordnance, to disperse the nation's stores of gunpowder and thus minimise the potential impact of a single depot being attacked).

In 1804 the rolling way was covered over and additional structures were built alongside it: a foreman's office and a 'shoe room' (where workers were required to change into specialist clothing before entering the magazine).

By 1846 Priddy's Hard was still under the control of the Board of Ordnance and the following building existed on the site: 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.

By the 1860s, the filling of shells and preparation of fuzes had become the main work of the Royal Laboratory (the manufacture of small arms cartridges having moved in 1859 to a group of buildings to the west, just inside the ramparts).

In 1896 a 'New Laboratory' complex was constructed, consisting of several small wooden buildings embedded in the southern section of the ramparts, for filling cartridges either with powder (supplied direct from 'E' Magazine) or cordite.

At the same time, a series of massive new stores for filled shells were provided within the quadrangle of the old Royal Laboratory near the loading pier, alongside a new storehouse for naval mines.

In the 1860s, Priddy's Hard ordnance depot had an 18 in (457 mm) gauge manually-propelled tramway installed for moving powder and ammunition from 'C' Magazine through the Laboratory complex.

The tramway ceased operation in 1960 following the acquisition of a number of electric road tractors and trailers; much of the rail network was then lifted and the routes concreted over to form roadways.

To accommodate this additional work (naval gun repair in particular) a 'New Gunwharf' was opened at Priddy's Hard (north of the original site, to the east of Green Lane) consisting of a factory, foundry, smithery and other facilities.

[5] Priddy's Hard was fully utilised during World War II when thousands of women workers filled jobs vacated by men on active service.

For many years, Priddy's Hard was both the Royal Navy's and regional Army's armaments depot and supplier of ordnance and training to Commonwealth and Foreign countries, though its significance decreased over time.

[24] A 1977 memorandum set out a long-term plan for the following decade:From 1st August 1977, in anticipation of this transfer of activities from Priddy's Hard, the armament facilities currently known collectively as R.N.A.D.

A programme of clearing the historic ramparts of vegetation is now underway (although the use of goats for this purpose was discontinued in 2011 after vandals persistently set fire to their straw bedding).

[36] The old shifting house by the camber was refitted as a holiday let, operating from July 2022;[37] and at around the same time 'C' Magazine was restored and fitted out to provide a base for volunteers working on clearing and maintaining the ramparts.