OLD DEVONPORT . UK
www.olddevonport.uk
 

©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth
Webpage created: February 08, 2016
Webpage updated: May 19, 2019

To go to the Home Page          To go to the A-Z Contents Pag

THE MILITARY IN OLD DEVONPORT

GARRISON CHURCH OF SAINT MICHAEL AND SAINT GEORGE

The Garrison Church of Saint Michael and Saint George.
From a postcard.

The Garrison Church of Saint Michael and Saint George was situated on Cumberland Lawn, at Devonport, at the southern boundary of Raglan Barracks.  It has been demolished.

Built around 1860, after Raglan Barracks had been completed, it was a large building in the Early Early style constructed of red brick, with Bath stone dressings.  It consisted of a nave, aisles, transept, side chapel, surmounted by a turret.  There was also a vestry and a small tower.  The turret housed a church bell, dated 1783, cast in Flanders, that was said to have been taken from a French ship seized during the Napoleonic Wars.

The interior had graceful columns supporting moulded arches while the altar and reredos had been embellished at various times with private gifts.

An organ was installed in 1888 by Messrs Hele and Company, of Plymouth.  The cost of £300 was raised by subscriptions.

At Garrison Parade services, the chancel seats were occupied by the staff and officers of the garrison, while the troops were seated in the nave and aisles.  The music would have been supplied by the regimental band.  On Sunday evenings, a soldiers' choir led the signing, which would normally be accompanied by the organ but on festive occasions would be joined by the military band and drums.

Members of the public were admitted by the south door to the Sunday morning Parade service if there was any room but in the evenings the Church was freely open and only the seats for the officers would have been reserved.