Royal Marine Barracks The Globe Theatre

PLYMOUTH

SX4654SW DURNFORD STREET, Stonehouse 740-1/60/784 (East side) 01/05/75 Royal Marine Barracks: The Globe Theatre

GV II

Racquet court, later extended and converted to theatre on Marines barracks. c1830, remodelled after 1860, restored c1990. MATERIALS: squared, snecked Plymouth limestone below impost level at entrance front, otherwise Plymouth limestone rubble with limestone dressings; low-pitched tiled roof, the right-hand gable end completely glazed with 2 mullions and vertical glazing bars between. EXTERIOR: former racquet court a tall single storey; symmetrical 2-window entrance front. Blind low 3-light mullioned windows above impost string, small segmental-arched basement windows to light under stage below. Tall central round-arched stage doorway with keyblock and moulded gabled hood; rusticated jambs; large pair of ledged doors opening at 2 levels. Rear wall has a central stone shallow bay up to beneath the eaves to accommodate the auditorium, with blind lunettes each side. INTERIOR: has original features to circular auditorium, for seating approximately 250, including: shallow domed ceiling with dentilled cornice supported on cast-iron columns; fluted pilastered proscenium with panelled sides and mock doors with pediments. The auditorium dome is of wooden construction under a hipped roof with cast-iron trusses. HISTORY: ball courts were a standard feature of early barracks, but this is probably the earliest surviving example, and unique as a conversion to a theatre. Stonehouse is the earliest non-garrison barracks in England, and a complete complex of considerable architectural and historic significance. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 655).

Listing NGR: SX4647754081