New Foundry Inn

The advent of steam spelt major changes for the Royal Navy, and for the Naval Dockyards. By the middle of the nineteenth century however Devonport had fallen behind Portsmouth and Woolwich and was ill-equipped, in terms of engineering facilities, to deal with the new generation of warships. Hence the decision to create Keyham Steam Yard with its impressive new docks and harbourside facilities – including Boiler Shop, Boilersmith ’s Shop, Plater’s, Blacksmith’s, Coppersmith’s and Brass and Iron Foundries.

Not surprisingly the new Yard ushered in new housing and new satellite shops and facilities to serve the yard and its workforce, and foremost among those new amenities was No.1 Navy Row (at the bottom of what became Albert Road) which opened as the appropriately named New Foundry Inn. Clearly occupying a prime site, it wasn’t long before the inn was apparently sold and by 1865 it had became the base of the Keyham Co-operative Company.

Licensees

1852 - William Baker