NOSTALGIA: Wrens' entrance to old Portsmouth barracks

The photograph I posted last week of one of the gates to the former Victoria barracks in Old Portsmouth was seen by Alan Hudspeth. It was taken at the junction of Victoria Avenue and Pembroke Road.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Jun 2018, 21:00 BST
Updated 26th Jun 2018, 14:46 BST
The entrance to Victoria Barracks. All the buildings have been demolished although the gate remains. Picture: Robert James CollectionThe entrance to Victoria Barracks. All the buildings have been demolished although the gate remains. Picture: Robert James Collection
The entrance to Victoria Barracks. All the buildings have been demolished although the gate remains. Picture: Robert James Collection

Alan says: ‘It is the back gate to the barracks, if my memory serves me, and was only used for Wren officers to access their wardroom which ran parallel to Pembroke Road. The building was a mirror image of the one in Museum Road,’ he adds.

The windows and brickwork behind the left gate post is the rear fire escape from the Holiday Inn hotel. Today, the gate leads to Chatham Drive, a private residential estate.

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What a shame these barracks were not converted as were the former Royal Marine Barracks at Eastney.

NOW: The gate remains with the Holiday Inn replacing the former clock tower at the barracks.NOW: The gate remains with the Holiday Inn replacing the former clock tower at the barracks.
NOW: The gate remains with the Holiday Inn replacing the former clock tower at the barracks.

n Thanks to Robert James’s postcard collection we have a pre-war view of Clarence Pier, Southsea, I have never seen before. At one time horse trams from the Town Station terminated on the pier so passengers could board cross-Solent ferries. The long building to the rear is the Esplanade Hotel. On the left is a rollercoaster, the forerunner of the Wild Mouse. Pembroke Road is behind the trees.

Related topics:NostalgiaOld Portsmouth