Victoria Quay is part of the unique heritage of Royal Clarence Yard

Royal Clarence Yard is located in Gosport, Hampshire and was established and expanded between 1828 and 1832 to provide a purpose built victualling yard for the Royal Navy.

From the opening of the yard until its decommissioning in the 1990’s, Royal Clarence Yard was used as a major supplier of provisions to the Royal Navy. Prior to the 1828 expansion, the area was known as Weevil Yard. In 1685 the site was inherited by Captain Henry Player, from his relative John Player. Captain Henry Player was a local brewer, who decided to use the site to develop Weevil House and brewery, which was to provide beer for the navy. In the 1750’s Weevil was sold by the family to the Admiralty, who wanted to consolidate all victualling in Portsmouth and Gosport onto one site.

Due to the Seven Years War, by 1756 there was an increased demand for beer, so a new brewery and further storehouses were built. The Admiralty then began to further develop the site, which included the addition of a cooperage in 1766. After the challenges of the Napoleonic Wars, the Admiralty finally agreed to move all Portsmouth and Gosport victualling operations to the Weevil site, and by 1828 architect George Ledwell Taylor was employed. Taylor had a significant impact on the site, building and redeveloping much of what was at this point renamed ‘Royal Clarence Victualling Yard’.

While the site continued to be used for victualling purposes, during Queen Victoria’s reign there were some key additions - including the private Royal Railway Station. This brought with it a new waiting room and landing stage, and the Tank Store was expanded to include ‘Her Majesty’s Landing Furniture Store’ where the red carpet was stored. There were further developments and remodelling of the site in the late 19th and early 20th Century, until World War II when air raid bombing destroyed many of the buildings. After the war new buildings were added, and Royal Clarence Yard remained a major Navy supplier until it was closed in 1991.

Royal Clarence Yard was designated a Conservation Area by Gosport Borough Council in 1990.