The Unicorn Gate is a Grade II listed building in the Portsmouth local planning authority area, England. First listed on 13 August 1999. Gate.
The Unicorn Gate
- WRENN ID
- quartered-granite-root
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Portsmouth
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South MP: Stephen Morgan (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 13 August 1999
- Type
- Gate
- Address
- The Unicorn Gate, Circular Road, City of Portsmouth
- OS grid reference
- SU 638 007
- Coordinates
- 50.80309, -1.09511
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Unicorn Gate is a portsea town gate that later served as an entrance to the naval dockyard. It was originally built in 1779 by Patterson and was demolished and re-erected as the dockyard entrance in 1865 by Lloyd. The gate is constructed of ashlar stone and features a central carriage archway flanked by pedestrian archways, all of which are round-arched. The structure has a vermiculated plinth and a rusticated centerpiece that projects forward. The archway includes a dropped keystone and voussoirs that are aligned with the stone courses. Paired pilasters on either side support an entablature with a cornice and pediment, which displays a unicorn couchant holding a standard. The pedestrian archways are framed by architraves and are set within walls that feature cornices that rise to the center, terminating in square piers topped with cornices and ball on cushion finials. Originally, the Unicorn Gate was located on Anchor Gate Road, just east of the current Anchor Gate, and is now positioned on the alignment of the dockyard extension wall.
Local climate
The Unicorn Gate receives an average of 810 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 52% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 19 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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