Mylor Naval Dockyard
In 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Admiralty wanted a place to supply water to its vessels in Falmouth Harbour. Plans were drawn up (PRO ADM 149/314) and a reservoir constructed in the valley behind St. Mylor Church and, at the shore a jetty and building containing a cooperage as in those days ships carried water in barrels. The bottom of the reservoir was 8 feet above high water mark allowing water to be gravity fed down a pipe to the jetty head. The Admiralty land was in two parts, the main part being the valley down to the buildings and jetty, a second part an area to the north of the churchyard where there was a house for the officer-in-charge.
The dockyard building - On the ground floor the cooper's shop to the left and the shed with open colonnaded front to the right. Above the loft with a small office behind the left hand window
An undated plan (ADM 140/315/1), I suspect of a slightly later date, shows the building to comprise a cooperage 49' x 20'-6" and shed 76:6" x 20~-6" with a loft 119' x 21~ above, part of the loft (10 sq.ft.) was used as an office. There was a cooperage ard of 4349 sq.ft. in front of the building and one of 6588 sq.ft. behind. The pier was 30' breath and 270' long plus an arm of 70 foot at the head, The water pipe connecting the reservoir to the jetty was 4 inches diameter.
A plan of 1869 (PRO MFQ 1/911/5) shows the reservoir to be 125'-6" by 55'x 5' deep [I calculate this to be 214972 gallons or 977285 litre]. Additional sheds had been built behind the original buildings, A field to the south of the area was used as a drill ground for the crew of the HMS Ganges and included an outdoor gymnasium. Behind "Greatfield" and an adjoining field containing a small quarry were leased to Mr. Rees. An area at the bottom of the valley, near the shore, was marked as "Mr. Stivey's Garden". A new house for the officer-in-charge had been built to the east of the the main buildings (I presume that this is the house now available as a holiday rental).
The smaller area north of St. Mylor's Church was shown in three areas. The northernmost was the Marine Burial Ground, granted by the Lords of the Admiralty in July 1846.The central part had been granted to the parish for enlarging the churchyard, 6th May 1866. The southernmost part was two pieces, part vacated by the officer-in-charge and part rented by Mr. Rees; the parish had asked for this land as a further extension of the churchyard. Presumably, the Admiralty intended to grant this as they had already built a new house for their representative.
A later Ordnance Survey map shows a Smithy to the east of the officer-in-charge's house.
The 1891 census shows a Sick Quarters at the dockyard - clearly housing boys that did not stand up to the harsh regime onboard the H.M.S. Ganges training ship moored in St. Just Pool. See the Cornwall Online Census Project pages. The memorial in the naval burial ground near the Churchyard lych gate is to 52 boys who died during training on the Ganges.
In 1900 the Admiralty had no use for Mylor Dockyard, a poster appeared:
FALMOUTH
ADMIRALTY PROPERTY
TO LET
AT
MYLOR NAVAL ESTABLISHMENT
The Admiralty are preparing to let on an Annual Tenancy terminable [on 3 months' notice], its buildings and land at Mylor, consisting of:-
Two Dwelling-houses, stores, stable, saw-pit, shed, workshop, boat house and blacksmith shop, landing jetty, wharf, etc.
A fresh water reservoir of about 210,000 gallons capacity with connection to the head of the jetty.
About 12 acres of land, six of which are in grazing and six in plantation.
The tenant to enter into an agreement on the usual Admiralty conditions to keep the fences and gates in an efficient state, and the houses, jetty, sheds, reservoir, etc., in repair, pay all rates and taxes and hand over to the Admiralty at expiration of the agreement in a condition equal to the present.
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Tenders for the above will be received by the Superintending Engineer, H.M. Dockyard, Devonport, not later than 13th, November, 1900.
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ELLIS & SON Practical Printers, &c. 62, St Aubyn Street, Devonport
For more information see "The Upper Fal in Old Photographs" by Peter Gilson, published Alan Sutton, 1994, pages 22 & 23 & "Around the Waterways of the Fal" by Sheilia Bird, published Bird of Freedon, 1988,1990, pages 26, 27 & 30.
The H.M.S Ganges Waterside Restaurant web page gives some indication of the current usage of the dockyard buildings. See also the HMS Ganges Association site, the Mylor Yacht Club site and the Mylor Yacht Harbour's site also references in the Falmouth Packet Archives 1688-1850 site (I've not yet worked out how to navigate this site but it does have lots of interesting information on it, somewhere - this page seems to have the HMS Ganges)
Web Scribe Richard Milsom Copyright 2003, All rights
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Last Updated 30 June 2005