Around 1810 the Royal Naval authorities began preparations to transfer shipbuilding operations from Milford to Pater. The government already owned the site of Pater fort, and the gently sloping river front was ‘admirably adapted for the work of ship building’. As the project developed, the naval authorities and Ordinances department acquired more plot of land to accommodate the Dockyard and its defences. One story has Mr Stone, the ship master being rowed across from Milford carefully carrying a bag containing £3000, payment for four extra fields.