This film is part of Free

The Royal William Victualling Yard in Plymouth

There are provisions fit for an army and a navy at the Quartermaster's store.

News 1966 8 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for South West Film and Television Archive

Overview

TV reporter Michael Reinhold is at the Royal William Yard (RWY) and Wrangaton Ministry of Defence stores.  The RWY is on the River Tamar and was named after King William IV and built between 1826 and 1835 on a sixteen acre site near Devonport dockyard and the Royal Naval base in Plymouth, Devon. Victualling pronounced vit(a)ling stores furnish victuals or provisions to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and store dry goods, clothing and of course navy strength rum in barrels.

The RWY is a redevelopement success story. From 1992, the beautiful Grade One listed buildings with thick stone walls and high ceilings have undergone a unique transformation by Urban Splash with Plymouth City Council. Apartments and offices, restaurants and bars are now responsible for victualling grateful residents, workers and punters. RWY was designed by architect Sir John Rennie and from 1891 also housed armaments. Buildings have retained their original names mixing signs of the past with signs of the future in Clarence for carriages, Brewhouse for ale making, Cooperage for barrel and cask making, Mill's Bakery for bread making, Guardhouse for guards and Slaughterhouse, don't go there!