Monument MPM1972 - Stone pediment, Portsmouth Museum

Triangular stone pediment/gable end from Victoria Barracks. Decorated with the royal coat of arms. The feature was removed c1966 prior to the barracks being demolished. It was incorporated into the garden at Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery in the early 1970s and is situated approximately half way along the south garden wall.

Triangular stone pediment/gable end in the back garden of Portsmouth Museum. Removed from Victoria Barracks c1966 prior to its demolition. The stone is decorated with a carving of the royal coat of arms consisting of a shield divided into four quarters displaying the coats of arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, surmounted by a crown. [HER Officer]

An article in the Portsmouth Evening News for the 29th September 1966 reported that 'armorial bearings' at the gable ends of Victoria Barracks were to be dismantled by the City Architect's Department prior to demolition and incorporated as features at the site. The article includes a photograph of what appears to be the pediment in the museum garden. [1]

A City Engineers photograph in the museum collection taken in March 1966 shows one of the gable ends of the barracks with an almost identical stone i.e. has the same royal coat of arms and motto, but there is a very slight difference in the detail on the carving. It is therefore possible that there was more than one of this design on the barrack building. [2]

<1> Evening News, 1966, Evening News (Bibliographic reference). SPM575.

<2> Portsmouth City Architects Department, 1966, Gable end at Victoria Barracks (Photograph). SPM576.