to the new purpose-built Eastney Barracks); Gunwharf Barracks were then given over to the Royal Artillery for a time, after which they were occupied by the Army Ordnance Corps until 1891. The Grand Storehouse was mirrored by a similarly sizeable "Sea Service Store" on the Old Gun Wharf (later remodelled to serve as the Warrior naval accommodation block). In addition to these two, a plan dated 1859 indicates more than a dozen other large storehouses all around the site. As ships and armaments developed, the requirement to offload the armament diminished, and the Gunwharf fell into disuse. It re-established as the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS Vernon in 1923. The site became HMS Nelson in 1986 and ceased operations in 1995. The site was then sold to Berkeley Group Holdings in 1996 and, after being redeveloped to a design by HGP Architects, re-opened as a retail outlet on 28 February 2001. Retained historic buildings and structures HMS Vernon suffered extensive damage during the Blitz, but a number of historic structures survived, some of which have been restored as part of the Gunwharf Quays development. The Old Customs House pub and restaurant, built as an administration block in the late 18th century, is the oldest building on the site and the only significant survival on the Old Gun Wharf side. An early 19th-century gateway stands behind the Vulcan building, indicating the line of the original boundary of the New Gun Wharf; Initially hemmed in by the fortifications of Old Portsmouth, the site expanded further when the town fortifications were levelled in the 1870s; much of the later perimeter wall, which dates from this expansion, remains in place around the edge of the site, along with the Main Gate of c.1870. The Grand Storehouse (later called the Vulcan Building) was the principal structure on the New Gun Wharf, built 1811–14. Its north wing and clock tower were both destroyed in the Blitz and only reinstated as part of the Gunwharf Quays reconstruction. The old Royal Marines Infirmary building was originally built as an Ordnance Storehouse at around the same time as the Vulcan block; together with other nearby storehouses it was converted to form Gunwharf Barracks, of which it is the only surviving part. Behind the Vulcan building, and dwarfed by it, is a former shell store (Building No. 25) dating from 1856. See also Portsmouth Berkeley Group plc Land Securities References