Gosport, Hampshire - Officers Residence, Priddy's Hard - art postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  An early 19th Century Painting of the former Officer's Residence, Priddy's Hard, Gosport
• Publisher:  Museum of Naval Firepower, Priddy's Hard, Gosport / Explosion!
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Gosport /'g?sp?rt/ is a Borough town situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 85,000-100,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000–10,000 during the summer months.^{[citation needed]} It is part of the South Hampshire conurbation and lies on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour opposite the City of Portsmouth, to which it is linked by a pedestrian ferry.

Priddy's Hard is an area of Gosport, in Hampshire, England now being developed for housing with part of the site retained as a museum. However, for some two hundred years it was a restricted-access site; first becoming a fort and then an armaments depot for Royal Navy and British Army weapons, explosives and other stores.

In 1750 by an Act of King George III the Board of Ordnance purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of agricultural land in Gosport and a boatyard from Jane Priddy and Fareham Vicar, Thomas Missing. This was to construct an earthen rampart as part of an extension of the defences of Portsmouth Harbour and the Royal Dockyard, the Gosport Lines. The ramparts were completed in 1757 and the land enclosed known to as Priddy's Hard Fort; it was manned by the Army. In the nineteenth century Priddy's Hard Fort was armed with 14 eighteen pounder guns.

In 1764, after a series of petitions sent to the Master General of Ordnance from the general public, the decision was made to remove the gunpowder that had been stored in Square Tower, Portsmouth.

First. In carrying powder from thence to the hoys about 400 yards (367 m) distance to the end of the point, and by shaking the barrels together in a Cart there has been a train along that street, which in War time is the most popular part of the town.

Second. When funerals pass by there the sparks of the Links and Torches have been seen to fly against the Magazine Walls and Windows.

Third. At shipping off the Powder from the Point among a crowd of drunken, smoking, sailors tending to the Men of Wars boats is also a very great hazard.

Fourth. This Magazine being next to the sea and within reach of Shipping, makes it a good Mark to Bombard where 6,000 barrels (950 m³) of Powder are lodged.

5th. When Spring Tides come into the Ground Room under the Foundation of the Wall, and strike up damps, which might be cured by Arching over that places; but since the other inconveniences are so great to cause the Ruin of this Place and from miles around: Am humbly of the opinion a New Magazine in the Harbour, free from the said Hazards would be most for the safety of this port.^{[citation needed]}

If the Magazine had exploded the casualties would have been appalling in this densely populated part of Portsmouth. Serious accidents with gunpowder were well known, some of them were recorded as follows:^{[citation needed]}

• 1649, Tower Street, London — 60 houses demolished after 37 barrels detonated in a shop.
• 1654, Gravelines — explosion of magazine, 3,000 killed.
• 1693, Dublin — detonation of 218 barrels, 100 killed.
• 1739, Brescia — lightning strike, 3,000 killed.

Various proposals were suggested as to where to build the new gunpowder magazine, Priddy's Hard, Boatswain's Hill Coppice (where Defence Munitions Gosport is today), and Horsea Island in the eastern reaches of Portsmouth Harbour. None of the sites were considered ideal, including Priddy's Hard, the main concern the closeness of the Royal Dockyard, this would eventually lead to its final closure.

Priddy's Hard was chosen due to the availability of the land (already owned by the Crown) and in December 1766 the decision was finally made by the Ordnance Board and the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Originally the magazine was to be loaded from a rolling-way across the foreshore but it was decided when the time came, to construct a camber basin to enable the lighters to unload right at the rear of the magazine. Further magazines were planned at this juncture to the east and west of the current Grand Magazine, but were never built. This lack of storage capacity was highlighted during the Napoleonic Wars and as a consequence led to the use of floating gunpowder in the reaches of Fareham Lake.

Construction of the new powder magazine on land within the ramparts commenced in 1771, along with a cooperage, guardhouse, shifting house barracks and the octagonal camber basin. The Grand Magazine (as it became) was originally enclosed with a high brick wall to assist with security and to ensure no contraband items were brought into the magazine. These items included ferrous objects (to reduce the risk of sparks), alcohol and smoking materials.

Board of Ordnance 2 May 1777

Gentlemen,

The Board direct that the labourers at the Gun Wharf at Portsmouth assist in removing the Powder from the Town Magazine, and in unloading and stacking the same in the Magazine at Priddy's Hard, this they are to continue to do when business at the Gun Wharf will permit.^{[citation needed]}

type=printed

city/ region=gosport

period=post-war (1945 - present)

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100mm)