Maker Heights is a former military site set in a spectacular headland location which played an important role in the defence of Plymouth from the late 18th century. It is a nationally important site containing a relatively unspoilt collection of fortifications are of outstanding significance for their illustration of military engineering and history from the last quarter of the 18th century until the mid-20th century.
The Rame Conservation Trust owns the freehold of the Grade II* Listed Maker Barrack Block, which was built during 1804-1808 to accommodate the garrison at Maker Heights. It is a typical, but now rare, example of barracks in which over 200 officers and men shared the same building. The Barrack Block, with its surrounding complex, is the most complete and unaltered example in the country of a small garrison barracks from a significant period of our history.
The garrison in the Barrack Block manned a line of earlier defences – Redoubts Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. These are all Scheduled Monuments, four of which are now cared for by the RCT, under a long lease with the Mount Edgcumbe Estate. The Redoubts were built to protect Devonport Dockyard, in response to the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
The RCT promotes new uses which respect the heritage at Maker Heights and in recent decades, Maker Heights has become home to a creative community of artists and musicians. For more information about our subgroups and the community at Maker’s Heights, please visit their websire.