2-12, Halliday Close

This is a terrace of twelve houses, originally built as Officers’ Quarters in the late 19th century. They were constructed between 1874 and 1896, likely as part of the Royal Marine Light Infantry barracks at Forton, which had relocated from Portsmouth by 1848. The architect is currently unknown.

The houses are built of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, set upon a chamfered red brick plinth. Decorative plain and scalloped tiles are used to embellish the gables. The roofs are tiled, with tall, corbelled brick chimneystacks. The houses are arranged over two storeys, with two windows to each property. While the terrace presents a symmetrical appearance, number 1 was demolished following war damage. The central and northernmost properties are tiled above ground floor level, featuring large gables covered with a combination of plain and fishscale tiles. The remaining properties have smaller gables with a similar tile treatment. All gables have crested ridge tiles and bargeboards. Each gable also displays a moulded timber bargeboard topped with a uniquely styled finial. The northernmost property has semi-external chimneystacks, pedimented at roof level. Windows are 12-pane sashes to the first floor. The central and northernmost properties have penticed tiled porches spanning the width of the property, supported by wooden brackets; the others have smaller, paired porches. Most properties retain their original four-panelled timber doors, door furniture, and tripartite fanlights. A footscraper is recessed into the chamfered brick plinth beside each door. The two central and northernmost properties feature original decorative cast iron rainwater goods, including downpipes with fleur-de-lys motif hopper heads and matching fleur-de-lys brackets for the gutters.

A monument in Ann’s Hill Cemetery, Gosport, commemorates the deaths of eight members of a Barrage Balloon Crew and two residents of number 1, resulting from a direct hit during the Second World War. In the later 20th century, the Ministry of Defence released the properties for private sale, and they are now in private ownership. The terrace represents a well-preserved, high-quality example of late 19th-century Queen Anne style architecture, originally built as Officers’ Quarters.