Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust
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    • Battle of the River Plate
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    • Home
    • About Us
      • Policies and Objectives
      • Trustees
      • Meet the Staff
      • Fundraising
      • Gift Shop
      • Venue Hire
      • Awards
      • Become a Member
      • FAQs
      • Founding Partners
      • Contact Us
    • Historic Dockyard Museum
    • National Trust
      • Our Mission
      • The Dockyard
      • Cartmell Cottage
      • Hawk's Nest Shanty
      • Cape Pembroke Lighthouse
      • Whale Bone Arch
      • Corrals
      • Cemeteries
      • Bodie Creek Bridge
    • Past Finders
      • About Past Finders
      • The Horticultural Show
      • Forgotten Crafts
      • Teaberry Picking
      • SS Great Britain
      • Talk on Shackleton
      • Talk on Whaling
      • Scavenger Hunt
      • Cooking
      • Peat Cutting
      • Gardening, Painting & BBQ
      • Halloween
      • Murrell Farm
      • Decorating Biscuits
    • News & Events
      • Talks
      • Museum at Night
      • Falkland's Ball
      • Macmillan Coffee Mornings
      • Christmas Lights
      • Identification Days
      • Stanley's 175th B-Day
    • Articles
      • Early History
      • 1982
      • WWI Battles
      • WWII
      • Battle of the River Plate
      • The Warrah

Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust

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THE HISTORIC HEART OF STANLEY

Dockyard History

 By 1844 Governor Richard Moody  had started the process of moving the capital to Stanley. The first  buildings to be constructed (largely by Royal Engineers, Miners and  Royal Marines) were those in the Government Dockyard.

In  July of that year Stanley’s early constructs consisted of a carpenter’s  shop, a smithy built of sods, bricks and clay, two wooden cottages, a  cottage of sods and stone, and a storehouse – the latter eventually  being used as a barracks, a hospital, a court and a gaol.  

The  original Government Building Book, dated September 1848, describes the  details of these buildings, which remain largely unchanged to this day.  

By  the end of the 1840s, several other Government buildings and a jetty  had been added and these too remain in the Dockyard. However, it is the  original half dozen buildings that are of greatest historical  importance, offering a glimpse into the life of the first settlers in  Stanley.  

Historic Building at the Dockyard

 Category A Listed Buildings:
Central Stores
Old Gaol
Government Smithy
Government Boathouse

Category B Listed Buildings:
Dockyard Workshop 

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Central Stores (Building 1)

 This building has changed little since  its construction and is the only large building in Stanley to retain its  original shingled cladding. The loft beams and walls still bear the  graffiti of visiting sailors in the 1880s. It is also believed to be the  oldest surviving wooden building in southern South America.

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Gaol (Building 10)

 This building contained four cells on one  side of a central passage and two on the other. The building also  houses the Gaoler’s accommodation of a 'sitting room, bed room and loft  over head.' 

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Government Blacksmith's Shop (Building 11)

The 1848 Buildings Book describes the  Government Smithy as 'a new stone building… with forge fitted with 2  forge blocks 2 pair of bellows, 2 anvils, swaging block and a portable  forge. There is a bench with drawer etc.' Much of this original  furniture remains in place to this day.

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Boat House (Building 9)

 This building was originally known as  'No. 3 Store' and was used as a coal shed and, for a short time, a  temporary powder magazine and during this time was 'lined throughout  with rugs and blankets.' 

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Workshop (Building 8)

 This is a small stone building with a  panel on the south-east wall bearing the words 'T.N. Braxton 1943'.  Tommy Braxton carried out a good deal of work in local stone, most of  which is still in evidence.

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Government Jetty

 A Canadian barque, the Margaret was cut  down to its tween decks, filled with rubble and used as a base for this  jetty. Although little of this 1836 vessel can now be seen, it remains a  matter of interest and demonstrates the resourceful nature of early  settlers. 

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Falkland Islands Museum & National Trust

Historic Dockyard Museum - Stanley - Falkland Islands

+500 27428