Hms Drake Chapel Of St Nicholas

HMS Drake Chapel of St Nicholas is a Gothic Revival chapel built between 1905 and 1907 on the naval base in Devonport. The chapel is constructed of dressed Plymouth limestone with limestone dressings, featuring a steep slate nave roof, a polygonal chancel roof, and lead roofs to the porches and baptistery. It is orientated north-east to south-west.

The plan comprises a tall nave, an apsidal chancel, low aisles, north and south porches at the west end, a south vestry at the east end of the nave, and an octagonal baptistery at the west end. The exterior displays a plinth, triangular buttresses flanking the bays, mid-floor and parapet strings, and round-arched openings with hoodmoulds, containing leaded glazing and original iron-fitted doors. Aisle and baptistery windows are traceried lunettes on a sill string, while the taller nave windows are two-light with traceried heads. The chancel windows are tall and single-light, overlooking a crypt with smaller single-light windows below. The vestry includes a quatrefoil window above a smaller flanking window. The west window is five lights with a transom and four lights above. A stepped belfry, topped with a cross finial, rises above the nave and chancel, containing three bells.

The interior features 11-bay arcades supported by hexagonal piers with moulded round arches and hoodmoulds, and an arched-braced nave roof springing from moulded corbels and tie beams. The chancel has a barrel-vaulted roof with painted ribs springing from turned marble shafts. The original space has been subdivided into three separate chapels – Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Scottish Free. Original pitch-pine pews with shaped ends are retained, along with a Gothic-style freestone pulpit and a 20th-century bronze font. The chapel's clean lines reflect the naval tradition, with the triangular buttresses and arcade pier shapes possibly inspired by ships. The building's setting on the slope creates an impression of a vessel riding a wave.

The chapel is one of four matching naval barracks churches; the others are at HMS Pembroke in Chatham and the Marines barracks at Deal and Eastney. Drawings are signed TNW and dated 1908. It represents a notable example of late Gothic Revival architecture within a significant naval complex, showcasing the prominence of the Royal Navy at the time.