Royal Navy Detention Quarters (Building Number 2/44)

The Royal Navy Detention Quarters, also known as Building Number 2/44, is a military and naval prison constructed around 1834. It suffered bomb damage around 1940 and was subsequently rebuilt. The building is made of red brick laid in Flemish bond and features a concealed roof.

It has an axial plan with a central full-height aisle from which cells open. The structure consists of three storeys and a basement, with a total of 18 bays. The northeast and five southwest bays were rebuilt after the bomb damage. The exterior includes small segmental-arched windows with small-paned glazing, projecting sills, and some windows are fitted with bars. There are large air vents with stone lintels and sills, as well as perforated covers. A second-floor band and an eaves band are located below a concrete-coped parapet, which also features a gabled ridge skylight and conical roof vents.

On the northwest side, there is an entrance at the left end that has a metal grille, which used to provide access to a small open court but now serves as an entrance porch. The southeast side has a basement door and window at the left end, with additional basement windows located below the present ground level. To the right, there is a single-storey ablutions block that has been reroofed and extended. Each gable end has a louvred segmental-arched vent for the roof skylight, and at the southwest end, there is a door with an iron gate.

Inside, there are two sets of iron stairs with octagonal newels leading up to cantilevered cast-iron galleries that encircle the first and second floors. Each floor has three open wells and cross-braced balustrades, although some of the balustrading and stairs have been renewed. The cells feature some heavy nail-studded wooden doors, each equipped with a wooden shelf, hammock hooks, and floor and ceiling vents. Cell number R4 still displays old graffiti, including the date 1864 and the name of someone from HMS Warrior.

The building is a relatively intact example of an early 19th-century detention block, with maintenance records dating back to 1834.