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The Dutch
Fleet in the river Medway, 1667
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In June 1667, Dutch ships, under the command of Admiral de
Ruyter, sailed up the river Medway in Kent, capturing or destroying most
of the British Fleet which was lying at anchor in the river or nearby in
the dockyard at Chatham.
It was a devastating blow from which it took the country a long time
to recover. King Charles II and his advisers inspected potential sites
for a new dockyard in 1677 but it was not until the arrival of King William
and his queen, Mary, from Holland in 1688 that any real progress was made. |
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Rumple Quarry, Eggbuckland |
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Early in 1690, a contract was drawn up for a stone dockyard to
be built at the mouth of the river Tamar, in an area known as the
Hamoaze. Under the guidance of a builder from Portsmouth, work got
underway and by 1698, the Dockyard occupied 24 acres. Buildings included
storage and work areas, a rope house, cottages for workers and their
overseers, wet and dry docks plus magazines for the storage of guns and
ammunition - all built from stone quarried in close proximity to the
Hamoaze.
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Aerial
view of remote quarry on Dartmoor
©Steve
Johnson |
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Over many
centuries, small quantities of granite stone have always
been quarried from Dartmoor for localised building purposes. Most men
who lived on the Moor would have needed a mason's skills in
their everyday work - to build and maintain walls, shelter for animals
and humans, and track ways.
Quarrying as a commercial proposition was not possible on the Moor
until the coming of the railways so this rich source of material was not
available to builders of the new Dockyard at Plymouth - they
looked to places like the old Rumple Quarry at Eggbuckland. |
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However, a use was found for the granite of Dartmoor in the closing years of the 18th
century as work began on a prison to hold Napoleonic prisoners of war. For these buildings,
stone was quarried from Walkhampton Common close to Princetown, the
site of the prison. As the building grew, more wings were added to
accommodate prisoners brought over from the American War of 1812. |
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Gateway
to Dartmoor Prison |
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In 1851, the prison at
Princetown was incorporated into the British Penal system. Punishment,
based on the concept of hard labour, was centred on working in the stone
quarries around the prison. Isolated, damp, cold and bleak even in
summer - for warders and inmates alike, this prison soon became one
of the most dreaded places in the United Kingdom. |
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Princetown - the Prison lies behind the
Church |
Back
to Issue 13
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