Royal Marine Barracks The Longroom

The Longroom, part of the Royal Marine Barracks, is an assembly room, mess hall, school, and now gymnasium, dating back to 1760. It was extended in the early 19th century, with alterations in 1805 and 1818. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, with rusticated stone quoins, and has dry slate hipped roofs concealed behind brick parapets with moulded stone cornices. A brick stack is visible towards the left. Designed in a mid-Georgian style, it has a rectangular plan, with a double-depth rear section. The main block is two storeys over a basement, with a three-window front, while the rear block is three storeys over a basement, sharing the same parapet level and spanning five windows. A later extension added two bays to the left of the rear block. Original windows feature gauged brick arches and 6/6-pane sashes; later openings have segmental arches and similar sashes. The symmetrical, three-window entrance front, on the right-hand return, has moulded architraves to the ground-floor windows and a central distyle Ionic porch with dentilled cornices and a pulvinated frieze, topped with a round-arched doorway and fanlight. The rear entrance was added in the 19th century, featuring a central porch with a round-arched doorway, blind niches either side, and altered windows. Internally, the main block houses long rooms on each floor, with a dogleg staircase to the front. A central, open-well staircase from the early 19th century features stick balusters, ramped handrails, and turned newels. Original joists remain in the whitewashed cellar. The building was purchased from the Corporation in 1805 to serve as an officer’s mess. From 1818, when the officers moved to a rebuilt mess, the building was used as a school for the children of non-commissioned officers. Around 1859, the rear section operated as an infirmary, supported by a nearby surgeon's house. Its design shares similarities with the 1761 Guildhall at Poole, Dorset. Stonehouse barracks was built between 1781 and 1783. The Longroom is included on the list for its historical and architectural significance as part of the oldest and most important barracks complex in England, and one that doesn't form part of a fortification.