This 13th-century hospital chapel became Portsmouth's garrison church, its nave roofless since a 1941 bombing raid
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
William de Wrotham, the crown’s Keeper of the King’s Ships, founded the Domus Dei, Latin for House of God, around 1212 with the backing of the Bishop of Winchester, to shelter the poor and travellers passing through what was becoming a major naval port. It served as a hospital for over three centuries, run by a small community of brethren, until Henry VIII shut it down in 1540 as part of the Dissolution, his closure of England’s monasteries and religious hospitals in the 1530s and 40s. The Crown then used the building as an armoury and store for weapons and gunpowder, and later folded it into the governor of Portsmouth’s residence.
By the 1600s soldiers stationed in Portsmouth were worshipping here as their garrison chapel, and it stayed that way for the rest of its working life. The Victorian architect George Edmund Street carried out a restoration in the 1860s, giving the nave its present steep roof, but incendiary bombs wrecked that roof again during an air raid on Portsmouth in January 1941. Only the chancel — the east end, closest to the altar — still has a roof and furniture; the nave has stood open to the sky ever since.
Stained glass installed in the 20th century fills the chancel windows, depicting scenes from the church’s history and commemorating the regiments linked to it, and services still mark the church’s military ties on occasions through the year. English Heritage keeps it open on a seasonal, limited schedule with local volunteers. King James’s and Landport Gates are a short walk northeast, and Southsea Castle is a little further along the coast.
