About St George's Church
Built in 1753, and known as "The Shipwright's Church", this listed building is in St George's Square, around which the very first houses were built in the late 17th Century. As the nearby Dockyard grew in significance, the dockyard workers built houses in order to live nearby, rather than in Old Portsmouth. They also built the Church, and the bell-tower, in white, is not dissimilar to the nearby Portsmouth Cathedral, which is also built without a spire.
The bricked-up windows are in fact nothing of the sort - the frontage conceals a tiled roof, which in turn houses a curved ceiling behind the brick "windows". The interior is a complete surprise - light and airy and decorated in glorious pastels.
What was once a bustling area gradually became neglected, but the regeneration of Gunwharf Quays, with its luxury shopping complex and the infamous Spinnaker Tower, originally to open for the Millennium, but not creaking into life till Octboer 2005, give the area a new vibrancy. It is just a few minutes' walk from the Church to Gunwharf, to the Tower and to the Portsmouth Dockyard, with its Victory, Warrior and Mary Rose attractions.
Travel directions
Arriving by train
The Church is almost opposite Portsmouth Hard Station. Leave The Hard and turn right into Queen Street, and after a few yards, the Church is on the left, set back into St George's Square.
Arriving by Bus
The Hard is well served by a variety of buses from First Bus and Stagecoach.
Arriving by Car
Parking can be awkward in the centre of Portsmouth, but there is a massive underground carpark at Gunwharf Quays, just across the road. Gunwharf Quays Car Park is signed from the end of the M275 (which is the easiest way onto Portsea Island from the M27 and the A27/A3M).
Click for a street map that you can print.
Sat Nav users
The postcode is PO1 3AT
Accessibility
The Main Hall has ramped access for Wheelchairs.
There are male, female and wheelchair friendly toilets in the adjacent Church Hall, but the internal doorway from the Church is narrow and cannot be modified because of the listed building status. It might be necessary for wheelchair users to trundle round the outside of the Church and use the Hall's exterior entrance.
As with many of our Church venues, the seats are firm and you might like to bring a cushion!
St George's Church Portsea
View from outside the Church
The interior