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Designed by Captain Beatson and Blake, the Master Shipwright. The Old Fire Station was completed from 1843 to 1845 by Bramah and Fox of the London Works, Birmingham, to replace the timber tank that served the salt water ring main installed by Brigadier-General Bentham in 1800 to combat the high risk of fire in teh dockyard. It is an early example of a free standing iron-framed structure and represents one of the earliest uses of cast iron columns in British dockyards. Two tiers of cast iron columns with arched girders supported a water tank with a capacity of 840 tons. Corrugated Iron was also used to clad the upper part of the building.