Main Gateway At Raglan Barracks (Barracks Not Included)

The Main Gateway at Raglan Barracks is an entrance gateway with flanking guard houses, built between 1853 and 1856 by Captain Fowke of the Royal Engineers for the Admiralty Works Department. Constructed from dressed Plymouth limestone with freestone dressings, the gateway features a roof that is hidden behind a parapet with a moulded entablature, showcasing a classical style. The structure has a rectangular plan with a central through-arch and guard houses on either side.

The exterior is single-storey and consists of a nine-window range. At the center, there is a square clock tower with a clock face on each side, topped with a narrower bellcote that has moulded corner pilasters and round-arched openings with rusticated voussoirs. Above this, a moulded cornice supports a small dome with a weather vane. The central vaulted carriageway is flanked by lower vaulted pedestrian passages. Both the inner and outer elevations feature a central round archway, with flanking pedestrian arches that have inscribed panels above, all fronted by a pedimented tetrastyle Tuscan portico on pedestals, which displays the Royal Arms on the pediment. Each lodge on either side has a plinth, three windows with plain architraves, and consoles supporting plain hoods.

The interior is not accessible. This gateway is noted as one of the most impressive barracks entrances and guard houses in England, serving as the entrance to the parade square of Raglan Barracks, which accommodated 2,000 men in transit through Devonport. Captain Fowke was a prominent army architect, also known for designing the Albert Hall, making this structure a significant example of military architecture.