Outbuildings To South West Of Portsmouth Grammar School

The outbuildings, located to the south-west of Portsmouth Grammar School, were originally warehouses built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were later converted into barracks in 1825, with further office additions constructed between 1860 and 1880. The buildings are constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond, with low-pitched Welsh slate hipped roofs and ridge stacks on the office extension.

The layout forms an asymmetrical open courtyard, composed of an L-shaped former warehouse to the south-east and south-west, connected to a longer range to the north-west, which encloses the lower end of a former parade ground. Attached to the north-west side are single-depth stores, later adapted as soldier’s rooms, separated by transverse passages containing stairs. The south-east range has two sections separated by a central through-arch. A double-depth office block is attached to the east end of the north-west range.

The north-west range has seven windows, the south-west range five windows, and the south-east range eleven windows. The north-west and south-west ranges have symmetrical facades with later parapets and segmental-arched windows with rubbed brick detailing containing 8/8 pane sashes. The central entrance bays have altered doorways and taller former hoist doors above. The south-west range features a round-arched doorway in its west end and a flat-headed door to the east. The south-east range includes a large central round through-arch with ashlar voussoirs and similar fenestration to the other ranges; the former hoist bays in the flanking sections have been rendered in the mid-20th century. The rear elevation is similar. The former barracks office has flat brick arches over 6/6 pane sashes, a boarded door three windows from the left, and a glazed verandah with iron columns extending across the centre and left sections. Ridge and cross-ridge stacks have cornices.

Internally, the former warehouses have axial timber supports for heavy cross beams. The north-west range is divided by a central entrance stair hall, which contains a stone dogleg staircase with iron balusters, with doorways on each side incorporating fire-proof cast-iron frames.

The warehouses were built during the French wars and subsequently converted into Cambridge Barracks, forming part of the Clarence barracks when the officers’ quarters were purchased by the Grammar School in 1926. The later north-east block contained the Commanding Officer's office.

This building is an interesting example of a traditional warehouse with fire-proof detailing, demonstrating a rare survival of industrial buildings adapted for barracks use before purpose-built accommodation became common. It represents the last complete barracks from an area that formerly held a high concentration of soldier’s accommodation, and its irregular layout reflects the constrained location of the old barracks.