A PIER INTO THE PAST Neil Maxwell
M
y work gives me the opportunity to see some beautiful and historic houses in the city. Recently we were invited to appraise the Old Customs Watch House located on the Point in Old Portsmouth. For those of you searching your memories for the location, its next to door to the Still and West pub and has the little pier with the hut at the end that just peeps out into the harbour.
The house is currently arranged as a four bedroom property with a fifth bedroom/study but its versatility is obvious. On the Ground floor the magnificent, former boat house complete with flagstone floor has the typically large boathouse doors that can be folded all the way back to enjoy the view. And from the ceiling, there still hangs the storage rack for the oars that were used to propel the customs cutters.
Used by her Majesties Customs officers until the early 1970s the property dates back to the mid 17th Century and used to feature a slipway, from which the Custom’s launch entered the Harbour and then out to the Solent. The slipway was replaced in the 1900s by the concrete pier with a set of davits for launching the Custom Cutters and a unique watch hut so the officers could see around the edge of the Quebec Hotel and the Pickfords Removal’s warehouse that used to adjoin the property.
Whilst researching the history of the property we stumbled across a fascinating and somewhat surprising tale from June 1809. Apparently, a cargo of gunpowder barrels along with luggage and other goods had been placed on an area of beach that could once be found outside the Still and West. Two local washerwomen were enjoying a smoke from their clay pipes. When one of the women tapped her pipe to clear it, sparks were emitted which then ignited the gunpowder. There followed a large explosion, destroying property and showering the harbour and nearby roofs with the women’s washing. Amazingly the washerwoman were saved by their washing tub that blew on top of them, shielding them from the blast.
One point of interest, I discovered that the Quayside, next to the Old Customs House, on which the nearby Quebec House now sits, was once used for ferries to France and also for Pickfords to move furniture to and from the Isle of Wight. The Old Customs House boasts many period features, one being the letterbox, which is set at the top of the door, moved from lower in the door as the Customs officers were so upset with locals using it as a urinal! 32
If you’d like to make a less eventful visit to see the property, we’re looking forward to showing financially verified parties around the house in the near future.
