Submarine Memorial Chapel of St Nicholas, Fort Blockhouse

Anglican chapel. Built in 1917 to commemorate Royal Navy and Allied submariners lost at sea during the First World War.

MATERIALS: painted brick with stone dressings and a slate roof covering.

PLAN: a single-cell plan extended with a lean-to at the north-east end providing a sacristy.

EXTERIOR: the chapel is orientated north-east to south-west and situated on top of the North Bastion of Fort Blockhouse. It is a single-storey gabled building with timber bargeboards and a slate-covered roof. The building has a single window to each elevation; bull’s eye or oeil-de-boeuf windows to the gable ends and mullion and transom windows containing casements to the north-west and south-east elevations. A timber five-panelled door provides the main entrance into the chapel at the western end of the north-west elevation. Above the doorway is a timber sign with an incised inscription: HM SUBMARINES MEMORIAL CHAPEL. On the central panel of the door is a further inscription set beneath a crown: THIS DOOR IS DEDICATED TO THE PROUD MEMORY OF ADMIRAL SIR CLAUD BARRINGTON BARRY KBE CB DSO FLAG OFFICER SUBMARINES 1942-1944. THEY COMMITTED THEMSELVES UNTO THE SEA. There are Latin crosses at the apex of each gable. Attached to the north-east end is a single-storey lean-to which serves as a sacristy. It has a two-over-two paned sash window and a timber four-panelled door. Attached to the south-west end is a single-storey flat-roofed addition with two low timber doors, which was probably a store associated with the North Bastion.

INTERIOR: the entrance leads directly into the nave of the chapel, which has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, below which are raised and fielded timber panels to the walls separated by pilasters, and a moulded cornice. The cornice situated above the altar at the north-east end is painted with the words: I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE SAITH THE LORD. There is leaded stained glass to the windows: the bull’s eye windows contain an image of Christ above the altar and Mary at the opposite gable end. The four casements depict: St Nicholas, with a dedication to Lt FRC Talbot and Lt EB Talbot RN of HM Submarines Thames and Snapper respectively; St Christopher, with a dedication to Lt GA Adlard RN HM of Submarine Unique; St Paul, with a dedication to Lt-Cmdr EP Tomkinson DSO RN and Officers and men of HM Submarine Spearfish; and St Andrew, with a dedication to Lt-Cmdr JH Forbes DSO RN and Officers and men of HM Submarine Spearfish. Attached to the south-west wall are two carved wooden chaplain’s boards and built into the western end of the south-east wall is a display stand for a book of remembrance. To the left of the altar is a timber door leading into a small sacristy.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 18 August 2021 to correct wording in description.