Manadon Street

Like many other Spotswood street names, Manadon gets its name from Plymouth in Devon. Manadon is the area in Plymouth where you would once have found the Royal Naval Engineering College (RNEC).

Officially titled HMS Thunderer, the Engineering College site has been redeveloped into a housing estate called Manadon Park. Varying house types were built, and Manadon House, the old Manor House and the former chapel from its days as a naval base were kept.

The Engineering College had a long history. In 1838, with steam-driven vessels entering navy service, training of Engineers' Boys was begun.

In 1843, the Royal Dockyard Schools were founded at four sites, including Portsmouth and Devonport.

By 1877, HMS Marlborough, a hulk at Portsmouth, was used as a student hostel. By 1880, a specially built college at Keyham, Devonport operated as a training school for student engineers. The Keyham site replaced all four of the previous schools.

By 1937, the Keyham site was enlarged by the purchase of the historic Manadon estate in north Plymouth. The 100-acre site was developed during World War Two, and in 1946 the whole complex was commissioned as HMS Thunderer.

RNEC Manadon continued to develop as the centre for training of the Engineer Officers until it closed in 1995. In future, engineers will attend civilian universities and specialist naval establishments in the Portsmouth area.

Manadon Street in New Plymouth is the site of a Countdown supermarket. Gardeners will know the location for its bulk supply depot for gardening and landscaping supplies. The old firm A.J. Cowley has operated from the site for decades. If you keep going to the end of the street, you'll find the start of a walkway that leads almost to Back Beach.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.