Brankesmere House

Brankesmere House Southsea was built in the 1890s for Sir John Brickwood, a brewer who helped found Portsmouth FC. It’s a large, Grade II listed Victorian mansion with Jacobean and French influences as seen in my pics. Over the years, it was used as a girls’ school, police HQ (i believe), and social services office. It’s also linked to the 1956 disappearance of Navy diver Buster Crabb, with rumours of a secret KGB meeting there. Today, it’s split into homes but still keeps many original features and sits in Southsea’s historic Owen Conservation Area.