Ordnance Row

Street guide, Portsea

Ordnance Row is a short street in Portsea whose name directly reflects the district's military heritage. The Board of Ordnance, responsible for supplying weapons, ammunition and stores to the armed forces, had a significant presence in Portsea from the seventeenth century onwards. The street's name commemorates this connection to the military supply chain that was so central to the life of a dockyard town. Ordnance Row lies near Queen Street and runs through what was once part of the densely built commercial centre of Portsea. Post-war rebuilding has altered its character considerably, but the name endures as a reminder of the layers of military history embedded in Portsea's street plan. The street today is modest in scale and primarily residential.