Description

Early 19th century. 2-storey and attic over concealed basement tenement transversely adjoining W end of Post Office, 2-bay gable with shopfront to Commercial Street, 3-bay entrance elevation to close at W, single-storey and attic wing projecting from N gable. Textured cement finish to shopfront, random rubble walls elsewhere with stugged, droved and polished ashlar dressings. Projecting cills to windows.

S (COMMERCIAL STREET) ELEVATION: symmetrical, modern 8-panel 2-leaf timber door with plate glass fanlight above centred at principal floor with flanking windows, regular fenestration at 1st floor.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical, basement exposed in bay at left, 2-leaf, 4-panel timber door with dentilled cornice and etched glass fanlight above centred at principal floor, window in bay at left, blank in bay at right; regular fenestration at 1st floor with blind window in bay at right. Modern panelled door on Commercial Street to flagged close with stone steps to basement to left of entrance door.

N (ESPLANADE) ELEVATION: 2-bay gable of principal block with single storey and attic wing projecting at basement, single window to right at lower level of wing gable, windows flanking centre in gablehead.

Timber sash and case windows, 12-pane at basement and centred at 1st floor, plate glass elsewhere. Purple-grey slate roof, piend-roofed slate-hung canted timber dormer to each pitch, plate glass timber sash and case windows. Rubble apex stacks with stugged sandstone ends to principal block and wing, all coped with circular and octagonal cans.

GATEPIERS: stugged squared and snecked sandstone wall with saddleback cope extending to right from N gable of wing, and linking to square ashlar gatepiers with V-jointed rustication and pyramidal caps.

Statement of Interest

The S gable of this building makes an important contribution to this part of Commercial Street, and is effective in terminating the civic scale of the Post Office at this end. The N gables and gate provide a strong composition in this prominent harbour site, and serve as a reminder of the former appearance of the harbour-front prior to construction of the Esplanade.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77770627

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014