Description

PLYMOUTH

SX4654SW DURNFORD STREET, Stonehouse
740-1/60/784 (East side)
01/05/75 Royal Marine Barracks: The Globe
Theatre

GV II

Racquet court, later extended and converted to theatre on
Marines barracks. c1830, remodelled after 1860, restored
c1990.
MATERIALS: squared, snecked Plymouth limestone below impost
level at entrance front, otherwise Plymouth limestone rubble
with limestone dressings; low-pitched tiled roof, the
right-hand gable end completely glazed with 2 mullions and
vertical glazing bars between.
EXTERIOR: former racquet court a tall single storey;
symmetrical 2-window entrance front. Blind low 3-light
mullioned windows above impost string, small segmental-arched
basement windows to light under stage below. Tall central
round-arched stage doorway with keyblock and moulded gabled
hood; rusticated jambs; large pair of ledged doors opening at
2 levels. Rear wall has a central stone shallow bay up to
beneath the eaves to accommodate the auditorium, with blind
lunettes each side.
INTERIOR: has original features to circular auditorium, for
seating approximately 250, including: shallow domed ceiling
with dentilled cornice supported on cast-iron columns; fluted
pilastered proscenium with panelled sides and mock doors with
pediments. The auditorium dome is of wooden construction under
a hipped roof with cast-iron trusses.
HISTORY: ball courts were a standard feature of early
barracks, but this is probably the earliest surviving example,
and unique as a conversion to a theatre. Stonehouse is the
earliest non-garrison barracks in England, and a complete
complex of considerable architectural and historic
significance.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
655).

Listing NGR: SX4647754081

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26537243

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

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)