South Gate, Chapel, Offices And Museum, Fulwood Barracks

A group of buildings comprising a barrack master's office, quartermaster's store, entrance archway, and a chapel, dating from 1842-1848. Designed by Major T Foster RE for the Ordnance Board, the buildings are constructed of sandstone ashlar with ashlar gable and ridge stacks and a slate roof, in a late Georgian style.

The building has a single-depth plan with a first-floor chapel positioned above the central archway, flanked by offices, and a museum to the north. The symmetrical front facade, facing the parade ground, has a central section set forward, featuring pilaster strips, a cornice, and a blocking course. The lower ranges are situated on either side. A three-window, pedimented section projects further, incorporating rendered central segmental archway flanked by narrow round archways; a clock resides in the pediment, and above that is a square cupola with louvred sides and a shallow square dome surmounted by a weather vane. Architraves frame the windows, featuring 10/10-pane sashes on the ground floor and mid-20th-century stained glass in the first-floor lights. The flanking ranges have internal doorways with simple surrounds, leading to 20th-century doors, and flat-arched 6/6-pane sashes. Single-storey lean-to buildings with 6/6-pane sash windows abut the gables. The rear elevation, facing the barracks entrance, mirrors the front but lacks the projecting pedimented centre. A central stair tower rises on the right-hand wing, and the single-storey ends feature plain surrounds to flat-headed doorways. The archway is supported by two diaphragm arches.

The chapel’s entrance is located to the right of the archway. Mid-20th-century stairs lead to the first-floor chapel, which contains mid-20th-century pews and panelling.

The building was constructed in response to concerns regarding Chartist agitation. Its design represents an early example of a church integrated into a military barracks. Despite the loss of the southeast barrack range, the original plan of two parade squares within a defensible perimeter wall remains largely intact, making Fulwood Barracks the most complete surviving example in England of the late 18th-century concept of barrack design.