Description

This List Entry was subject to a Minor Amendment 06/01/2017

The following building shall be added to the list:-

COWES

SZ 49 SE
6/10000

ARCTIC ROAD

(East side)
Coles Yard and Slipway
(Formerly listed under Arctic Street)

II

Yacht building and fitting yard. Constructed by George Henry
Marvin in 1885. Comprises chimney, arch, which originally
contained the Pattern Shop, and slipway. Engine chimney of
stock brick, square in section about 50 feet high, tapering to
top with simple cap with modillion cornice. This is attached
to a stone segmental arch with stock brick voussoirs, the arch
filled in with weatherboarding with 2 C19 industrial windows
and unloading doors. Two lean-to weatherboarded structures are
attached, one of which is the winch house. The arch bears a
tablet inscribed GM 1885. The interior contains the original
1885 2.5hp beam engine driving a winding drum through a four
stage reduction gearing now adapted to run on compressed air.
The boiler has been moved and adapted to act as an air
reservoir chamber. Attached to the arch is the slipway
constructed of local stone blocks with 4 steps at each shore
end and flights of 13 steps two thirds of the way along ending
in a wooden pier each side with mainly chamfered concrete
supports. The floor of the dock is made of large concrete
slabs on which lie three railway tracks to support the
cradles. At the end of the C19 this was probably the single
largest yacht building and fitting enterprise in Britain, its
importance shown by its work on King George V's racing cutter
"Britannia".In World War I the slipway was used to convert
large yachts and pleasure boats into patrol boats. In World
War II Coles Yard was the base for Free French naval patrol
boats.

Listing NGR: SZ4987494878

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26561831

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover