HMS Drake St Andrews Church HMS Drake Theatre Complex

Details

PLYMOUTH

SX45NW SALTASH ROAD, Devonport 740-1/4/174 HMS Drake: Theatre Complex 08/07/98

GV II

Includes: HMS Drake: St Andrew's Church SALTASH ROAD Devonport. Barrack master's house and canteen, converted to theatre and associated recreation and service rooms, now partly a church. 1879-86, extended 1892-1912, Superintendent Engineer Lt-Col P Smith, RE. MATERIALS: Plymouth limestone: rock-faced ashlar to basement of theatre end, otherwise limestone brought to course and with limestone dressings; slate roofs behind parapets with moulded entablature or triangular pediments; stone axial and lateral stacks with moulded entablature; louvred ventilator above projection room of theatre. STYLE: Free Classical. PLAN: single-depth plan house at N end with canteen to S side, separated by a courtyard; a wide through passage and attached single-storey cloakrooms at the higher end of the theatre, then a pedimented 2-storey block, plus another block at the higher end. EXTERIOR: theatre over basement, single-storey link building, otherwise 2 storeys; 1:6-bay theatre with pedimented moulded doorway approached by steps on the left and blind windows. Theatre passage and buildings on the right are set back from the theatre. Passage has wide round-arched doorway with corbelled imposts; 2 tall transomed windows right of this with plain architraves. The parapet entablature continues as a mid-floor entablature across the 5-bay pedimented front approached by full-width round-ended flight of steps; keyed oculus to pediment. Building on right is 3-window 1st-floor range with segmental-arched ground-floor openings: a doorway on the left and a window on the right. Above the doorway is a banner inscribed FISHER. Wider 3-window right-hand return has similar details. 3-bay left-hand return of Theatre has central triangular pediment over large 3-light round-arched window with square columns as mullions; blind flanking windows. 2-window-range side wall of house left of Theatre. Rear has similar general detail to other elevations. On the left is a wing with a central tripartite window on each floor; right of this are ramped walls to courtyard of building with pedimented end; right of this another tripartite window and the round arch of the rear of the through passage, then there

is a 4-window range with horned sashes with glazing bars. Set back right of this is a large 3-light double-transomed window but with squat ground floor flush with the flanking buildings. At far right is the 4-window-range house front with pedimented and moulded doorway on the right approached by a flight of steps; original horned sashes with glazing bars and pair of panelled doors. INTERIOR: of theatre has original roof structure with tie rods. Office has dogleg stairs and panelled doors. Other buildings not inspected. HISTORY: built and used as Barrack Master's quarters and canteen until 1912. Theatres were built in a number of military barracks in the late C19, though HMS Drake was the only one of the navy's three first barracks to have one. Now houses St Andrew's Church. Part of one of the finest and most complete barrack complexes in England, manifesting the Royal Navy's status and importance at this time. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 655 & 656).



Listing NGR: SX4490556849

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

473760

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 655-656

End of official list entry

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