Location
Why the Cell Block?
The Historic Dockyard provides the perfect contextual backdrop for a centre concerned with heritage. The "Cells" are not an ideal sized space for modern use, but are adaptable as studios and gallery ,which is needed for the traditional skills centre .The dockyard is situated adjacent a first class transport network at the Hard Interchange. Portsmouth Historic dockyard is a premier tourist destination, having nearly half a million paying visitors per year. The Cell block will attract a diverse prospective customer base and has excellent prospects to grow alongside the planned development of the Historic Dockyard .The environment. is exciting, with the Spinnaker Tower and Gunwharf Quays offering further leisure attractions and choice of refreshment facilities.
History
The Cell block is a Grade 11 Listed building (Listed 1999)and was built in 1882 as a naval detention centre to house drunken and riotous sailors.It lies to the West of the Victory Gate and abutts the Dockyard wall which was constructed between 1704 and1712 .This wall is Grade 11* (Listed1999). The cell block is rectangular in shape,built of local red brick in English bond, with a concealed roof and two storeys measuring 115x15feet. The ground floor houses 6 windowless cells, measuring 10'x7'.They open out onto a passageway on the south side of the building. Each cell door has a spy hole and there are small recesses in the cell walls of the passageway for gas lighting. Three quarters of the way along is an open roofed exercise yard. The second floor has much more natural daylight, from windows with small glazed panels. Access from the ground floor used to be from a staircase in the ground floor entrance. This no longer exists, and the .upper floor can only be reached by means of a ladder from the exercise yard up to the top walkway. The cell block remained in service until 1912 and has since been unused except for storage. It came under the control of Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust in 1994.The cell block lies within a conservation area. Listing Details Listing IoE number 476668 Former Detention Centre(Building no1/2) Date Listed13th August 1999 Listing IoE number 476664 Victory Gate and Dockyard Wall, Main Gate .Date Listed 13th August 1999 Thanks to Brian Patterson. Trust's Curator. Dockyard Historian.
Conversion
Grateful thanks to Brian Poole and Peter Slee of Adams Poole Architecture and Design,who are preparing the drawings for planning application. Space is very limited within the cell block and subject to the constraints of a listed building. The aim will be to balance maintaining the integrity of the Cell Block alongside the need to be a viable, user friendly, functional centre. Pete Lambert, surveyor for the dockyard, who has agreed to sit on the steering group as representative for the dockyard.