The Dry Dock and Timber Pond PD (Part 2)

The Timber Pond in Pembroke Dockyard

In the age of wooden ships, naval dockyards (and civilian shipbuilders) used copious amounts of timber. The seasoning of timbers was an important aspect of ship construction if the constructor did not want the vessel to warp and bend unpredictably. Also, there was a need to intentionally bend and shape timbers and it was found that soaking in water made the bending of timbers easier.

By the middle of the nineteenth century it had been found that soaking timbers in salt water before working them allowed suppling or bending to be more easily performed. Also, the salt that impregnated the timber helped in its preservation, particularly if the timber was "in the log".

Originally the timber was stored in a timber pond that was on the foreshore at the the western end of the dockyard, on the beach at the end of what is now Fort Road. Indeed, the stumps of some of the timber piles that penned in the timbers can sometimes be seen during spring tides.

Notice the poles of the old timber pond on the beach at the end of Fort Road c1890

 This end of the dockyard also had a tidal inlet that almost ran, on spring tides, up to the site of the present main entrance of the yard, with Paterchurch on its southern bank. On the northern bank of this inlet the Admiralty dug (or extended) a large limestone quarry for building the eastern end of the yard. This quarry, the source of much of the building stone used in the early years of "The Yard", was later to become an obstacle to extending the works to the west and filling in and levelling the land for further building was to be a major expense. For more information about Paterchurch see my post here.

The diagrams below shows the basic design of the timber pond (Listed Grade II), taken from a the plan of the design held at The National Archives at Kew, London.(TNA Ref: WO 140/486).

Timber Pond with Google Earth Imagery

As above but with some transparency

The Timber Pond

The timber pond at Pembroke Dockyard, (also called the mast pond or pickling pond), is one of the few (perhaps the only?) masonry built example surviving in the British Isles. The quality of the stone work is of its time, crafted in individually cut, carboniferous limestone blocks. Fairly recent inspection reports reveal that the pond is in good condition. It has two large, brick lined, tunnel conduits running into it from the outside world. One of these, in the western wall of the pond, runs to an outfall on the beach at the end of Fort Road. This has a system of sluices and flap seals that can be used to drain and seal the pond as required. The other conduit runs from the north wall of the pond to the southern end of the graving dock, and was (probably?) used to fill the pond with water from the dock.

The diagram below shows this general arrangement of the Western Part of the dockyard. The numbers against some of the older buildings were allocated as part of a separate project to commemorate the Bicentennial of Pembroke Dock in 2014. They were for project identification purposes only.

Some people reading this post may not even be aware of the existing of the Timber Pond, which is hardly surprising, as unless you have access to the western part of the dockyard, it is hidden behind the impressive dockyard wall. Its relative anonymity does not make it any less important in its significance to the heritage of ship building at Pembroke Dock, and indeed Wales and probably the wider UK.

The timber pond c1890

It has been claimed that the timber pond was made redundant in about 1860, with technological advancement in naval architecture that began to introduce the use of iron (and later steel) in the construction of ships. This is not true, as the wood was still an important part of ship construction, not least for the building and fitting of robust masts and rigging for these early iron ships - hence the alternative name for the timber pond - The Mast Pond.  See some examples of such in the picture below.

HMS Penelope. Launched Pembroke Dock 1867

HMS Shannon. Launched Pembroke Dock 1875.

The Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) proposes to fill in the pond and cover it with a concrete slab as part of a speculative plan to make Pembroke (Dock) Marine a home for marine energy development. MHPA proposes to the fill the pond in so that damage to the structure is minimal, however, removing the concrete slab and extracting the fill would be a massively expensively task for anyone wishing to uncover the pond in the future. The pond is being effectively destroyed.

View across the drained timber pond from the southern edge looking north-west. 2014

Looking across the pond form the southern edge looking north-east. Not the conduit that leads to the dry dock. This is the block oval near the ramp in the northern wall. 2014

The timber pond in an old photograph, taken for the east. The other buildings visible have been demolished. c1970?

The timber pond appears under the wing tip of this photograph taken from a Pembroke Dock based flying boat in the 1930's.

In my next post I will explain the other dramatic changes that MHPA are planning to make to the western end of the dockyard. I will, in the future, discuss the notion of access for the general public to this, and other areas of the historic dockyard and the reasons why this is restricted at present.

Thanks for taking the trouble to read this post.

Have a good Christmas and very best wishes for 2020.

The Dry Dock and Timber Pond, PD (Part 1)

The Graving Dock in Pembroke Dockyard

The Milford Haven Port Authority (MHPA) is unique. [An apology and a correction! There are 50+ trust ports in the UK. Milford Haven Port Authority is one of the bigger ones. It might have been one of the first. Would be glad to hear comment about this.] The Port of Milford Haven is a Trust Port, a statutory entity that was brought into existence by a specific Act of Parliament – The Milford Haven Conservancy Act 1958. It is the only trust port in the United Kingdom] [See note above and link here.]

If you want to read further into the background legislation that governs the operation of the authority, then there is no better place to do this that at their own website here.

One of MHPA's activities that are focused on the south side of Milford Haven is Pembroke Dock Marine. This main base of operations is located within the former Royal Dockyard and, as the information on MHPA's website explains, this "will deliver a world-class marine energy and engineering hub on the deep water Milford Haven Waterway."

The progress of this project is closely tied in with the Swansea Bay Region City Deal project, which you can learn more about by following the link.

Further insight into the wider economic activities carried out by MHPA can be found here. Other downloadable publications are available here.

However, much of the work of MHPA's work is in direct conflict with the preservation of the heritage assets that exist around the waterway. The prime case of this are the authority's plans to develop Pembroke Dockyard. 

Pembroke Dockyard opened in 1814 and was closed in 1926. Prior to 1814, there were just a couple of farms and a derelict mansion that occupied the area. It really was a green field site. The raison d'etre of Pembroke Dock was the dockyard and when it closed the local deprivation was intense.

The Royal Dockyard was the only such facility in Wales and, in an ideal world, perhaps it should have been used to encourage visitors to the county and developed into a heritage based leisure facility. However, the need for jobs, the Second World War and the all powerful financial might of the oil industry were more than minor obstructions to this being possible.

The dockyard, despite the burying and demolition of many of its original buildings, most notably by the Royal Air Force and latterly by the deep water berthing quay at the eastern end of the yard, still has some notable buildings, many of which are listed.

However, two of the surviving structures from the original dockyard, both listed, are now under threat by proposals put forward by the Milford Haven Port Authority. Why bury and destroy these features, unique in their character? It would seem that one possibility is to provide extra parking for lorries. That would seem to be a tragic, banal waste of some unique features of local heritage.

In this post I will give a brief introduction to the first of these features - the old graving dock or dry dock

The former dry dock (Listed Grade II* - see here), Was an important part of the role of the dockyard. This is in part of the dockyard that is rarely seen by the general public, but is easy of access, just beyond the ferry terminal. The image from Google Maps below shows its location.

Location of the Dry Dock

The blue rectangle, in the inset, marks out the dry dock.

The dry dock is of the caisson type. That means that the method of closing the dock before the water was pumped out was to float a steel or iron blocking door into the mouth of the dock and sink it, within tight fitting guiding rails, so that it made a good seal between the interior of the dock and the outside. The water was then pumped out by powerful pumps, until the dock was dry within.

The picture below shows the Ocean Layer, a cable laying ship, in this graving dock in the early 1950s.

Cable Ship(CS) Ocean Layer in Dry Dock

The dry dock today, apart from having tidal silt within and some dumped soil tipped into it in the south east corner, is a testament to the craftsmanship of the engineers who built it in the middle of the nineteenth century. The bollards and capstans, although quite decayed, are still around the edges and the old caisson used to keep the waters of the haven out, altough very rusted and damaged, is lodged at the southern end of the dock.

The dry dock was built in the very early days of the dockyard, c1820. It was lengthened in about 1853 to its present size. It was used for the repair of warships and, later in its career, as a place to dismantle old ships. The photograph above of the CS Ocean Layer shows the dock when it was used (under lease) by the local company R S Hayes to refit this vessel (Ex Empire Frome) for the laying of undersea cables. Follow this link for more information about CS Ocean Layer.

If you want to view this remaining feature of the dockyard, it is quite straightforward. If you enter the dockyard through the old main gate on Fort Road, take a left turn at the first mini-roundabout and then follow this road. It will take you right and then left past some large sheds and the old, grey limestone Oakum House. On your right hand side, behind a chain link fence, is the dry dock. Be careful in this area as there can be much works traffic at some of the businesses that have accommodationin this part of the yard. Wearing a reflective waistcoat might be helpful!

This is the drydock from near the entrance. Notice how silted up it is. The caisson can be seen at the far end of the dock. The object in the foreground looks like it might be an old pontoon.

This is the view from the other end of the dock showing a close-up of the old caisson. This would have been floated into position at the open end of the dock and sunk into position, the wooden strake fitting into a slot in the dock wall. Powerful pumps would then have pumped the water out of the dock.

In my next post, I will introduce the second heritage building under threat in the dockyard...the timber pond.

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 2

In Episode 1 I gave a brief outline of how you can look up the details of proposed Candidate Sites for the Local Development Plan Review (LDP2).

We looked at Site 324 on the Barrack Hill in Pembroke Dock. To read this article again see:

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 1

Since publishing this post, I looked up the owners of this land at the Land Registry. The owners are Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC), who own the freehold title to this former Ordnance Board land. For the sum of £3 you can download the title of the property, along any restrictive covenants. Another £3 gives you a map of the area covered by the title, but unfortunately none is available for this property, it not having been provided when the title was transferred to PCC many moons ago.


In this post We will look at some other properties around The Barrack Hill.


Initially, I will look at Candidate Site 323.

This site, on the western edge of The Barrack Hill, near the car park and bus stop, is near where there was in WW II a barrage balloon site. I remember some of the old mooring blocks and rings being there in the 1960s. (Sorry - a diversion! - Oops!)

The description of the site goes as follows: (Information taken form the Candidate Site Register)

• Name of Site: SGPC Site 3 - Adjacent to carpark and Chapel Road
• Nearest Settlement: Pembroke Dock
• Proposer Name: John Parsons
• Proposer Organisation:  South Pembrokeshire Golf Club
• Current Use: Leisure - Golf Course
• Proposed Use: Housing
• Site Area (Ha): 0.25
• Preferred Strategic Compatibility Category: Green

Up until now, I have not mentioned the red boundary line on the maps of Pembroke Dock. This line demarks the present settlement boundary. Planners like to keep development within the settlement boundary, (as I do!) and I expect that you would be able to find many planning applications that were turned down because they were outside the settlement boundary of a particular....settlement. Search at PCC Planning if motivated enough.

If you are not able to pin down where Candidate Site 323 is, this larger area map might help.

The eagle-eyed reader will have noticed the line of the present public right of way that crosses the proposed site diagonally. This follows one of the original tracks laid out when the barracks were built.

Who owns this site?

This is land that comes under the Land Registry title CYM281495. It is owned by Pembrokeshire County Council.

The difficulty with this is the notion of precedent.  Some of you will have remembered the planning application for a house at the other end of the Barrack Hill. That is:

• Land Register title: CYM676847, land on the north side of 10 Presely View, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6NP (£40,000, title transferred to present owner of 5 May 2016 from Pembrokeshire County Council).

This piece of land, which from recollection took a while to sell, was part of the former Ordnance Land  described for Candidate Site 242 and Candidate Site 344 that I have mentioned above and in my last post.

This sale set a precedent, a very useful thing in planning matters, that it is reasonable to sell off plots of land that lie outside the settlement boundary of Pembroke Dock (the red line) and are on what was The Barrack Hill.

This is worth bearing in mind when thinking about the motives that may lie behind lands sales and subsequent planning applications. One needs to think long term - what are the consequences of an application being granted?

Another precedent that was set by the above grant of planning consent is that the site was within (and still is within) the Pembroke Dock Conservation Area (PDCA). In fact, the whole of the original Barrack Hill Area is within the PDCA, but outside the settlement boundary. See my effort at mapping below:

The pink area with the green border is the Conservation Area and the red border marks the settlement boundary. The Barrack Hill is within the Conservation Area and outside the settlement boundary.

I must point out here that I have no particular issue with anyone who gets permission to build on The Barrack Hill as long as the correct procedures are followed and the intention is made plain from the outset.  I would, of course, hope that the planning authority would  refuse such an application because of the special nature of the place and its justifiable location within the Conservation Area. It is important that everyone takes notice of the way in which their surroundings can change. If you disagree with a plan, then object as early as you can.

I have made no strong comment so far about any of the proposals so far discussed. Opinions will follow later I would imagine....

Again, please feel free to comment if you wish. I will moderate the comments, but will publish all, but will redact swear words or insulting material. Be polite - it is the best way to be - politely assertive.

To be continued......

Pembrokeshire County Council - Review of Local Development Plan - Episode 1

This series (?!) of  posts will focus on the Local Development Plan Review (LDP2) for Pembrokeshire County Council.

Throughout the post(s) I will be using information from a variety of sources, but mostly from Pembrokeshire County Council's own website. I believe that my use of this is allowable under the terms of their copyright. If this is not correct, then I would be grateful if someone from the council would get in touch.

I will add in a few photographs that will add interest to what might be a lot of text!!

I cannot possibly cope with looking at the entire county so will focus, initially, on my own town of Pembroke Dock.

OK, let's start! If you want to read about the history of  LDP2, then the best place to go is here. This link is the overview page for LDP2. I would suggest that you have a look at this first as it explains the reasoning for the review...…..

There are lots of links from the above page, but perhaps you might leave exploring those until a little later.

PCC has kindly produced many maps to illustrate the suggestions for LDP2. The map for Pembroke Dock is here. This link will allow you to download maps of the Pembroke Dock area. These maps show the locations of Candidate Sites that have been suggested by a variety of contributors.  These are numbered. The numbering refers to a table of the sites (Sites Table is here). The candidate sites are grouped by Parish/Town Council.

More on Candidate Sites a bit later!

What I suggest you do now is download the maps and the table from the links above and have a quick read! At the start of the Table booklet (110 pages!) there is an explanation of the colours and content of the tables that follow. There is also mention of the "Preferred Strategy" that tries to explain the criteria for the coloured categorisation of sites in the table. Despite being a council tax payer who has a passionate interest in Pembrokeshire, I missed the initial "informal" consultations for LDP2. 

One important rule in these matters is ALWAYS take an active interest in local plans. Also, remember that "informal" means that discussions have taken place that might possibly be binding, but no minutes etc have been taken. It never means "nothing has been decided".


To start with we will look at the Barrack Hill in Pembroke Dock. The Barrack Hill was named after the Defensible Barracks that were built on this dominating high point overlooking the old Royal Dockyard, Pembroke.


This was open land with very few trees or bushes whilst the dockyard was in operation. There could be no hiding places for attacking troops to sneak up on the Barracks - indeed, when the Barracks were built, many of the houses in Cross Park were cleared to provide an open field of fire from the fort.

Anyway, I am digressing wildly... on to business!

If you look at the maps for Pembroke Dock from the PCC web pages mentioned above, pages 6 and 7 cover the area of the Barrack Hill and the former Oil Tanks Depot above Llanreath. Page 7 shows a greyed out area on the lower northern slopes of "The Hill", allocated the number 324.




The description of this site can be found on page 71(of 110) of the Candidate Site Register. See the cutting below.

So let's see what they say about Site 324.

Working from left to right, we see that this is "SPGC site 5 - Between the 10th fairway of the golf" - this entry leaves us hanging. Hopefully it will be finshed off at some point, but the map shows us where it is. Next, the nearest settlement is given as "Pembroke Dock/Doc Penfro". Fair enough.

Then we are given the name of the person who has proposed this site (Site 324) - "John Parsons" - I know not who this is.

No agent or agent organisation is mentioned, but the Current Use is "Leisure - Golf Course and scrubland".

The proposed use is proposed as "Holiday Accommodation" - (Tents? Caravans? Houses? - who knows), has an area of 1.48 acres and is coloured Grey - the colour of fog, I suppose. If you refer back to the top of the Candidate Site Register there is a key to the colours used in the table. In their words...

and

So that is your starter. Please feel free to comment if you wish. I will moderate the comments, but will publish all, but will redact swear words or insulting material. Be polite - it is the best way to be - politely assertive.

In the next instalment, I will look at some of the other Candidate Sites and mention other sources that can be used to find out a little more about the LDP2.