Bull Point Ordnance Depot was built during the Crimean War with building commencing in 1851 on land acquired between 1845 and 1846. The building of Bull Point Ordnance Depot was concurrent with expansion work on existing sites at Tipner, Weedon, Upnor and Marchwood.
Up until this time, the main gunpowder storage for Plymouth had been at Keyham Point, close to the Royal Dockyard. Keyham Point was close to Clarence Place and Charlotte Street but the need to build a steam yard close to the Royal Navy Docks saw this location at Keyham being chosen and thus forcing a move of the magazine to the more remote Bull Point.
The initial building works took place under the Board of Ordnance, which was itself dissolved in 1855 and replaced by a series of organisations:
- The Military Store Department from 1857 to 1869
- The Control Department from 1870 to 1875
- The Ordnance Store Department 1875 to 1891, This evolved in the Royal Arm Ordnance Corps (RAOC)
When built, a defensible barracks was also built on the hill behind the Depot and this was completed in 1857. The Bull Point Barracks still stands, see listing, a still bears the Board of Ordnance coat or arms over the main gate.
In 1891 Bull Point Ordnance Depot became a Naval Depot under the Admiralty.