Royal Naval College, Queen Mary's Quarter

Royal Naval College, Queen Mary's Quarter

This major institutional building on Romney Road, Deptford, was begun in 1699 to designs by Sir Christopher Wren and completed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1728.

The east front faces Romney Road and is constructed of Portland stone ashlar with four storeys across 25 bays. A slightly projecting five-bay centrepiece with balustraded parapet forms the focal point, with three-bay ends capped by pedimented gables. The roof is hipped with moderate pitch, leaded on the north side and slated to the south. A dentilled eaves cornice runs across the entire frontage with blocking courses over intermediate sections. Bands of stone mark the first and third floor levels, with additional bands at first floor window sills. The ground floor is rusticated throughout. The piano nobile, comprising the first and low second floors, features arcading in the centre and end sections, with second floor windows as lunettes. All other windows are recessed, square-headed sashes with glazing bars; those in the centre and ends have moulded architraves.

The south front presents four storeys over a basement with eleven bays. An enriched entablature and parapet crown the façade. Slightly projecting pedimented end bays have pilasters on the third floor and quoins below. Bands mark the third floor level and first floor window sills. The ground floor is rusticated. Above ground level, windows are set in moulded architraves, with shouldered detail on the third floor. Second floor windows feature console-bracketed broken cornices and triple keystones. First floor windows have modified Gibbs surrounds with console-bracketed cornices. The outer bay windows rise in tall round-arched recesses running into the pediments, each with an oval attic window above. The left bay on the third floor has windows flanked by round-arched niches.

The inner courtyard features the return of Wren's inner colonnade: six pairs of Tuscan columns (the outer ones square) with an entablature and balustraded parapet above. The entire western return is a long colonnade of paired columns with the balustraded upper floor set back behind them. This terminates in a two-stage tower. The lower stage is square, comprising a single bay with a wide open pediment and tall round-arched window flanked by niches. The upper stage is circular, composed of Corinthian columns with diagonal projections. A low drum supports a raised eaves for the clock face. Above sits a ribbed lead dome with oval windows in its lower portion and a columned cupola with a vane.

The chapel interior was damaged by fire in 1779 and redecorated in 1789 by James Stuart (known as "Athenian" Stuart) and William Newton. An octagonal vestibule with coved ceiling gives way to a tall flight of curved, diminishing steps. The eight-bay chapel has wood galleries on both sides, resting on wide curved brackets. A low segmental ceiling features three coffered roundels set in borders. The organ gallery at the west end is supported on the Ionic Order with a balustrade and highly enriched detail. The organ itself was built by Samuel Green in 1789.

Of the original 1779 decoration, two tall pairs of Corinthian columns survive at either end, framing the entrance and the altarpiece painting by Benjamin West. The interior throughout displays very rich classical ornament executed in shallow relief and grisaille. The gallery ends have double doors in rich surrounds beneath flattened coffered half-domes. A circular pulpit supported on four fluted Corinthian columns features carved Coade stone medallions also by Benjamin West and is accessed by a graceful curved stair.