Hms Drake Drill Shed

SX45NW 740-1/4/168 01/05/75

PLYMOUTH SALTASH ROAD, Devonport (West side) HMS Drake: Drill Shed

GV II

Formerly known as: (HMS Drake) Indoor Parade Ground Building SALTASH ROAD Devonport. Drill shed. 1879-86, Superintendent Engineer Lt-Col P Smith, RE; doubled in size 1907. Plymouth limestone ashlar with steel frame behind; flat roof hidden by parapet. Large rectangular plan. EXTERIOR: single storey; symmetrical 1:9:1:9:1-bay front. Plinth, rusticated pilasters dividing bays, parapet entablature and segmental arches to openings. Wide central entrance bay and narrow blind end bays broken forward and surmounted by pediments. The 9-bay side elevations, also symmetrical, each have 2 large entrances (3rd and 7th bays) with rusticated columns supporting entablature with large segmental pediment and the terminal bays are identical to those of the front. INTERIOR: noted as having iron supports to an iron-trussed roof. HISTORY: sailors lived in hulks until the first barracks were built here at Devonport in the late C19, followed by similar designs at Chatham and Portsmouth; HMS Drake was the only one built in ashlar. Sheds for indoor drill were introduced into barracks during the 1880s, and this is comparable with the very large examples at the other two naval barracks. Part of one of the finest and most complete barracks in England, manifesting the status and importance of the Royal Navy at this time. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 655 & 656).

Listing NGR: SX4491556750