Hms Excellent: Drill Shed (Building Number 190)

HMS Excellent Drill Shed, also known as Building Number 190, is a naval drill hall and gunnery school constructed in 1892. The building is made of red brick in English bond, featuring brighter-red brick arches and ashlar dressings, topped with a corrugated-iron roof.

The structure is large and rectangular, consisting of one storey with 3 x 19 bays, and is open on the north side facing the Parade Ground. It has a chamfered plinth and giant brick pilasters that flank recessed panels, which are connected by stepped eaves bands. Each end elevation has a projecting central bay with a wide round-arched entrance that contains double doors beneath a tympanum of diagonally-laid brickwork. The imposts and keystone feature a fouled anchor, with the date displayed at the west end, rising into a brick band. Above this is an oculus with radial glazing bars, and a pedimented gable is flanked by swept brackets, topped with ashlar coping and a ball-on-spire finial. The flanking bays have blind segmental-arched windows.

On the south elevation, there are small-pane metal windows in segmental-arched openings, with the bays defined by buttresses that have offset heads. The north elevation features a square-columned arcade, with each bay having a 9-light glazed head and a full-length ridge clerestory with louvres.

Inside, the building boasts a wide-span roof supported by tensile trusses made of diagonal wrought-iron ties, canted cross ties, angle iron principals, and paired flat iron braces.

Historically, the first barracks were established on this site in 1863 as part of the naval gunnery school. This drill shed serves as a large hall for indoor drill practice, comparable to similar structures at the main naval barracks in Plymouth and Chatham, and is noted for its historic technical interest.