Description

PLYMOUTH

SX4654SW DURNFORD STREET, Stonehouse
740-1/60/786 (East side)
01/05/75 Royal Marine Barracks: East Barrack
Block and forecourt railings

GV II*

Formerly known as: N and E Blocks, Officers Mess, Dining Hall
& Single Officer's Accom. DURNFORD STREET Stonehouse, R M
Barracks.
Barrack block at Marines barracks. 1781-83, built for the
Ordnance Board by Templer & Parlby, and extended 1818 and
c1860; rebuilt internally c1965.
MATERIALS: Plymouth limestone rubble with limestone dressings;
dry slate roofs with hipped ends and stone coping over cross
walls (formerly with stone axial stacks).
PLAN: very long rectangular single-depth plan plus taller
square stair tower to rear left behind the northward extension
of 12 bays.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys over basement; 12:3:10:5:10:3-bay range
which was symmetrical prior to 1860 12-bay extension to the N.
Original 5-bay pedimented central block and original 3-bay end
blocks broken forward and with rusticated quoins; band above
ground floor. Many early C19 hornless sashes with glazing
bars, otherwise horned copies, all within plain stone
architraves. Original doorway to centre of pedimented block,
with blocked jambs and cornice, the other doorways central to
each 5-window range within the 10-window ranges, doorways left
and right of the 3-window ranges and approximately central to
the extension on the left; overlights and planked doors. The
doorways to the N extension have segmental-arched heads. A
segmental-arched tunnel beneath the entrance cut through early
C19. Rear of main range plain, N extension has 4 shallow
projecting ablution towers to rear of transverse stairs, with
rusticated quoins.
INTERIOR: completely rebuilt c1965.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: late C19 latticed and scrolled
wrought-iron railings surrounding forecourt and flanking
steps.
HISTORY: this is one of the earliest surviving barracks for a
large unit of men in England. It is part of the only remaining
barracks built for the three divisions of the Royal Marines
after their formation in 1755. Originally contained 12
single-depth rooms separated by transverse stairs. The passage
between the former officers' mess at the S end was built over
in 1818. Stonehouse is the oldest and most important barracks

in England not forming part of a fortification, a rare example
of C18 planning, and a complex of great historic value.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
655).

Listing NGR: SX4645054068

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17554203

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)