More information : (SZ 63469972) Landport Gate (NAT) (1)
The Landport Gate is the only town gateway in situ; it was the inner gateway to the town and dates from 1760. (2)
Scheduled No.140. (3)
Landport Gate (name confirmed) is as described, see GP. (4)
Once the main entrance to fortified Portsmouth, the Landport Gate is the only gateway to survive on its original site. The design, attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor, executed after his death in 1760, is a simple, rusticated stone arch surmounted by a fine octagonal turret. (5-6)
Landport Gate. Descheduled. The monument includes the Landport Gate which stands on the east side of St George's Road 60m north west of Portsmouth Grammar School. The gateway has a stone southern facade with a brick built arched passage, surmounted by a circular cupola with a ball finial. The arch, 5.7m wide and 8m deep, spans a cobble road surface and is closed at its northern end by substantial wooden doors and at its southern side by iron railings. On either side of the arch is a stone plinth, extending for 12.8m to the west and 12.7m to the east. The plinth supports fragmentary remains of the curtain wall, extending about 6.3m on either side of the arch, together with reconstructed walls and iron railings. On the northern side of the arch some openings have been blocked and the structure is abutted by both concrete slabs and laid concrete. In places brickwork has been inserted to reinforce the rear of the curtain wall. Landport Gate, built in 1760 as part of Sir Bernard de Gomme's remodelling of Portsmouth's defences was the inner gateway through the ramparts into the town. Beyond it, but now destroyed, lay an outer gate through the ravelin. Landport Gate is the only one of the Portsmouth town gateways left in situ after the demolition of the rest of the fortifications in the 1870s. A plan drawn in the 1930s indicates that by this time a building had been attached to either side of the arch to provide married quarters for soldiers. These have since been demolished. The gate was considered to be best protected by listing rather than scheduling. (7)
A brief history and description. (8) |