Description

PLYMOUTH

SX4853NW THE BARBICAN
740-1/67/877 Royal Citadel: Officers' Quarters
08/07/98 and Mess

GV II

Officers' quarters and mess in fort. 1895, by T Rogers
Kitsell, architect for the War Office.
MATERIALS: dressed Plymouth limestone brought to course and
with moulded dressings including hoodmoulds and parapet
strings; dry slate roofs with coped gables, behind parapet to
principal entrance front; dressed stone axial, gable and
lateral stacks with moulded cornices.
PLAN: large inverted F-shaped plan plus shallow projecting
wings; there are 2 stair halls, with a carriageway running
under the mess room block (centre bar of the F) and this block
is partly built into the perimeter earthwork. The front
entrance block has the dining room to its upper floor on the
right and there is a smoking room on the left.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys; taller entrance block is 5 bays with
projecting gables flanking the central entrance bay. Principal
2nd floor has double-transomed mullioned windows except for
the 2 narrow windows flanking the fireplace to each floor of
the lateral stack of the right-hand wing. The moulded head of
the wide round-arched doorway is corbelled out to support an
embattled parapet. Lower range right of the entrance block has
cross wing on its right with large double-transomed 4-light
mullioned window. Other elevations are similar but with varied
window types and sizes, all with original glazing. The mess
room has a canted bay providing a lookout window and there are
external steps winding up to a porch.
INTERIOR: has much original architectural detail including
moulded plaster ceilings, doorcases with moulded architraves,
marble chimneypieces with iron grates and round arches between
linked room spaces. The mess room has a moulded chair rail and
arches carried on consoles. The large dining room has similar
detail plus a plaster barrel ceiling. Principal stair hall has
a large open-well staircase with turned balusters over a
closed string. The back staircase is a dog leg with slender
turned balusters over an open string.
HISTORY: a garrison was based at the Citadel from the late
C17. The old quarters were rebuilt under the 1890 Barracks
Act, and this is, with the Peninsula barracks in Winchester, a
rare example of an architect-designed barracks. Contained
rooms for officers and their servants, with mess and dining
rooms, and designed to fit into the context of the fine C17

fort.
(The Builder: Kitsell TR: Plymouth Citadel - new barracks and
recreation block: London: 1898-: 104-105; Woodward FW:
Citadel: Devon: 1987-; Saunders A: Fortress Britain:
Portsmouth: 1989-).

Listing NGR: SX4803053789

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26320007

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.

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