Portsmouth Attractions Videos - Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Transcript Of Narration
Portsmouth’s Dockyard is located on the west side of Portsmouth. Portsmouth is home, as previously mentioned, to 60% of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet of ships. The Royal Naval base is 300 acres in size and consists of 62 acres of basins and 15 working dry docks. The historic dockyard is located within the Royal Naval base and includes HMS Victory, the Mary Rose, HMS Warrior, the Royal Naval Museum, Action Stations and many other exhibits.

As with most of Portsmouth the dockyard has a history and a story to tell. In 1194 King Richard I granted Portsmouth its first Royal Charter and also ordered the construction of a dockyard. In 1495 King Henry VII ordered the construction of the world’s first dry dock in Portsmouth and in 1670 Charles II created the Royal Navy and granted Portsmouth the status of Royal Dockyard.

Between 1750 and 1850 Portsmouth’s dockyard was at its peak due to the continuous wars. During this period the dockyards storehouses, residences and rope house were built. In 1802 the block mills were opened, this was a factory that mass-produced ship pulley blocks. The block mills used machinery designed by Marc Brunel.

During the Second World War Portsmouth became the target of bombing attacks due to its significance of being home to the Royal Navy. In 1984 the Royal Dockyard lost the title of Royal Dockyard and was to be known as a naval base. For more information about the historic dockyard have a look at www.historicdockyard.co.uk.