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Portsmouth Dockyard's Block Mills is a Grade I listed building dating from 1802–1803, designed by Samuel Bentham and Marc Brunel as a revolutionary production facility for manufacturing wooden pulley blocks used in naval rigging. The building represents a landmark in industrial archaeology, housing one of the earliest applications of steam-powered machinery to achieve standardised mass production of interchangeable components. Constructed of brick and timber with cast iron columns, the structure originally contained a series of purpose-built machines that dramatically increased efficiency in block production for the Royal Navy. Stores 35 and 36, located within the broader dockyard complex, are associated storage buildings that reflect the scale and organisation required to support Portsmouth's role as a major naval establishment during the Napoleonic era and beyond.
Portsmouth Dockyard, the Block Mills and Stores 35 and 36 is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1001851. View the official record →
Portsmouth Dockyard's Block Mills is a Grade I listed building dating from 1802–1803, designed by Samuel Bentham and Marc Brunel as a revolutionary production facility for manufacturing wooden pulley blocks used in naval rigging. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1001851.
Portsmouth Dockyard, the Block Mills and Stores 35 and 36 is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1001851.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gunboat Traverser System (2.2 km), Southsea Castle (3.1 km), Fort Monckton (3.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Portsmouth Dockyard, the Block Mills and Stores 35 and 36's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Portsmouth Dockyard, the Block Mills and Stores 35 and 36 stands on Thames Group, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.