Royal Garrison Church

Royal Garrison Church, Portsmouth

This building began as a hospital and chapel (the Domus Dei), founded by Bishop Peter des Roches around 1212. It was originally a place of care and worship and later became a parish church. The structure is built from coursed rubble stone with ashlar dressings and is designed in the Early English style.

The building comprises a five-bay aisled nave with south and west entrance porches, a three-bay chancel, a north-east chantry, vestry, and organ loft. Plain tiled roofs cover the chancel, chantry, and vestry, whilst the aisles were re-roofed with slate in 1994–95. The nave has been roofless since it was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Extensive restoration work was carried out by the architect GE Street in 1886–88, and further restoration works commenced in 1994.

The north face features an aisle with five two-light stone windows, each with paired lights set within a lancet head beneath a pointed stone arch, flanked by stepped stone buttresses offset at the corners. The chancel has tall three-light stone windows with pointed arches and rusticated jambs on both sides. An organ loft with a steep facing gable projects in front of the chancel's centre bay. Beyond this is a three-bay chantry and vestry with three short two-light lancet-headed windows, each set beneath a pointed stone arch. The right return of the chantry has a longer two-light window with a facing stone coped gable. At the junction with the chancel is a large stepped stone stack.

The west face has a projecting porch with a stepped stone opening and pointed arch, flanked by stepped stone buttresses at the corners. Above the porch is a large four-light stone window with lancet arches set beneath a pointed stone arch, with coursed rubble infill to the tympanum. Small narrow three-light slots with lancet arches appear below the apex. The porch has a steep facing gable.

The south face has offset stepped buttresses at the far left corners of the aisle. A projecting porch with a facing stone coped gable and a stepped opening with a pointed arch and stone band at springer level is situated to the right. Four windows to the right match those on the north face. Low projecting stonework with lean-to stone coping sits to the right of the porch. A projection at the right-hand corner of the aisle contains a small narrow lancet window. Further right, at the junction of the aisle with the chancel, is a stone octagonal stair turret with a spire and two small lancet-headed slots. The chancel has three windows similar to those on the north face, with flanking stepped buttresses and an offset right corner buttress. Below the central window is a small boarded door with ornate iron straps set beneath a pointed arch. Projecting stone eaves with corbelled brackets run along the length. The east face of the chancel features three tall cusped-headed stone windows, each set beneath a lancet arch with flanking stepped buttresses. The gable is steep and stone-coped. To the right is a recessed 20th-century addition adjacent to the vestry at its abutment with the organ loft. The vestry projects with three lancet-headed stone windows and a cusped oculus.

The interior of the nave comprises five bays with stone octagonal columns in both the north and south arcades. Each column has a moulded capital and base, with pointed stone arches featuring label moulding. Entrance porches lead from the west and south-west bays, whilst a pointed chancel arch marks the eastern end. The chancel contains three vaulted bays with quadripartite vaults featuring hollowed cross ribs and a centre keel moulding in each bay. The vaulting springs from three clustered columns, each with a moulded capital and shaft descending to a moulded stone string course at sill level with foliage-patterned corbels. The south side of the chancel has a boarded door and a central window set beneath a stone segmental inner arch. To the left are two niches: one with short stone columns and cusped heads, and another with pointed arches. On the north side is a wide opening with a pointed stone arch that leads to the organ loft and provides access to the chantry and chaplain's vestry. The east end contains three long and narrow cusped-headed windows set behind flanking attached columns with pointed arches; the central window is longer than the flanking windows. The east chancel bay has decorative patterned tiling up to sill level. The nave and aisles were damaged by bombing in the Second World War, and glass panes to the windows are missing.

The church contains significant stained glass. The chancel has 1959 stained glass to the east windows by Carl Edwards depicting biblical figures. North windows have stained glass from 1904 and 1987 by Harold Thomas depicting the Second World War 8th Army and Royal Artillery. South windows have stained glass from 1967 and 1970 by Farrah Bell depicting the history of the church.