Admiralty House, Mount Wise
Admiralty House, Mount Wise is a substantial building at Devonport, Plymouth. It is a Grade II listed building.[1]
Contents
History
Military use in the 18th & 19th centuries
The house was designed by James Wyatt and built between 1789 and 1793 in Plymouth limestone.[1] It was originally known as Government House and served as the home of the military Governor of Plymouth; it later housed the General Officer Commanding Western District until that army command moved out in 1905.[2]
The naval Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, who had previously been based next door at Hamoaze House, moved into the property in 1915 and it was renamed Admiralty House.[3] At the same time Hamoaze House, was handed over to the Major-General commanding the Royal Marines.[3]
Plymouth Underground Extension (aka Maritime Headquarters)
During the Second World War a sizeable bomb-proof underground bunker complex was constructed in the vicinity, to serve as a combined headquarters for maritime operations; similar installations were constructed at the same time close to the Royal Naval Dockyards at Portsmouth, Chatham) and Rosyth.[4] The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, visited the house and the combined headquarters in 1941.[5]
After the war the combined headquarters remained in use as headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, and as such provided command facilities for NATO operations in the Eastern Atlantic, together with local co-ordination of RN, RAF and Civil Defence capabilities, and assorted intelligence and maritime surveillance facilities. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s the facility was comprehensively upgraded.[3]
After 1969, Admiralty House became the home of the Flag Officer, Plymouth until that post was also disbanded in 1996. The complex was then used to house a number of different operations on a temporary basis until 2004 when it was earmarked for disposal.[3]
Closure and sale of the site
The house was marketed for sale as a potential hotel in 2014 and much of the surrounding site was adapted for residential use in 2015.[6]
References
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