Landport Gate

Landport Gate is a town gate located in Portsmouth, built in 1760 and attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor, although it was completed after his death. The structure is made of ashlar stone and features a Baroque style. The central projecting arched section has horizontal splayed rustications, a segmental arched opening with rusticated voussoirs, a projecting keystone, and flanking voussoirs adorned with a crown relief on the keystone. It also has a moulded impost, a cornice with shaped brackets set on a moulded string.

There is a stone octagonal turret with openings that are each set under recessed flat stone lintels and flanked by scrolled pilasters, topped with a cornice and a tented roof featuring a ball finial. On both the left and right sides, there are segmental arched openings with flanking filled-in flat arched openings. The north face includes a two-leaf, three-panelled diamond-patterned boarded door with infill above, set under a similar segmental arch as the front.

Inside, the gate has a vaulted brickwork ceiling. Flanking the central part is a short length of the original coursed dressed stone wall, which has been raised to four courses above the impost, with a plain string course, cornice, and block parapet. Landport Gate is the only surviving gateway in Portsmouth on its original site and served as the principal entrance into the city before the fortifications were demolished in 1875. It is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.