Building MPM408 - CHURCH OF SAINT ANN (BUILDING NUMBER 1/65)

Anglican Church in Portsmouth Dockyard designed by Scott Thomas Telford, built 1785-86. St Ann's is the oldest surviving chapel in a naval dockyard.

Anglican Church in Portsmouth Dockyard designed by Scott Thomas Telford, built 1785-86. Opened in February 1786, St Ann's is the oldest surviving chapel in a naval dockyard. The church replaced the Dock Chapel, built in 1704, which was demolished in 1786 to accommodate the building of Admiralty House. A pewter chandelier from the earlier Chapel hangs from a ceiling rose in the new church. The north-west corner and west end of the church were damaged by enemy action during the Second World War, and restoration work was carried out in 1955 by Cogswell using Telford's plans. Fragments of glass from windows that were shattered were reused in a fanlight over the new door. A new east window by Hugh Eastern depicting the Risen Christ and a view of the Dockyard from the semaphore tower was installed in 1948. This replaced an earlier window commemorating the loss of HMS Adalanta (1870) and HMS Eurydice (1878).

Items of interest in the church include the font, which was carved by convicts, and an 18th century Georgian Royal Arms carved by Dockyard craftsmen which originally adorned the Commissioner's Barge.

Historic England, The National Heritage List for England (Index). SPM35.

Offord, J, 1989, Churches, Chapels and Places of Worship on Portsea Island (Bibliographic reference). SPM39.