E Magazine

Built for the bulk storage of gunpowder following the 1875 Magazine Committee’s recommendations that it be stored away from the centre of the Priddy’s Hard site when C Magazine became too small for the purpose. The building was connected to a new Powder Pier (designed in 1876) by a tramroad. By 1913 it had been converted into a cordite magazine, and around 1939/1940 it was surmounted by a police post to view over the Priddy’s Hard site.

In 2018, we were awarded grant funding by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the conversion and restoration of seven historic buildings, including E Magazine. Additional funding for works to E Magazine was provided by Historic England.

E Magazine, with its six-foot thick walls maintains a constant temperature of around ten degrees Celsius. This makes the building unsuitable for habitation, but ideal for the brewing of beer. We partnered with the Powder Monkey Brewing company to use E Magazine for this purpose.

The right-hand chamber of the barrel-vaulted building has retained its original form, with minimal modern insertions, enabling the magazine and its original purpose to be understood. In contrast, more significant changes have been made to the left-hand chamber to enable its new use as a brewery.