7 and 8 Corn Square

Constitutional club and political party offices, built in two or more phases between the 17th and early 19th centuries, possibly as a pair of houses. The buildings were refronted during the late 18th or early 19th century and converted to their current use during the early 20th century.

The building has a stucco frontage onto Corn Square, which conceals an earlier timber-framed structure behind the two easternmost bays. The roof covering is 20th-century concrete tile.

The building occupies an H-shaped plan, with a principal range fronting Corn Square to the south, a shorter ancillary range running north along the western plot boundary, and an additional ancillary range running east from the western range along the northern plot boundary. A 20th-century extension partially infills the space between the north and south ranges.

The principal southern range onto Corn Square is seven bays wide and composed of two distinct sections. The two easternmost bays, containing the Conservative Association offices and dating from the 17th century, are three storeys in height under a pitched roof. There is a shallow segmental-arched carriageway to the western bay, with a simple timber and lead canopy and timber-panelled doors. The main entrance is in the eastern bay and comprises a four-panelled door under a plain fanlight, within a panelled timber doorcase with a flat hood. The two upper floors each contain two timber sash windows with stucco cills. Those on the first floor have six-over-six glazing and those on the second floor have three-over-six glazing.

The five-bay western section, containing the Rankin Club and dating from the 18th or early 19th century, is slightly taller than the two-bay eastern section but contains two storeys plus cellar and an attic space under a pitched roof. The attic is lit by three flat-roofed box dormers of the late 20th century. There is a large gap between the three western bays and two eastern bays of this section, possibly indicating the presence of two structural phases behind the unified frontage. Each floor contains five two-pane sash windows with horns and stucco cills. A stucco plinth runs the length of the elevation, broken only by a blocked cellar window with a segmental-arched head and accompanying modern steel cellar hatch. A platband runs the length of the elevation above the first-floor windows. There are twelve pattress plates on the south elevation, all painted white and some recessed into the stucco.

A secondary range runs north from the three westernmost bays of the south range. It is of two storeys under a pitched roof and is rendered externally with a series of three-over-six sash windows on its east and north elevations. Running east from this range is a further long range under a pitched roof. In the return between these two ranges is a low flat-roofed two-storey extension of the 20th century. It is rendered and carries a series of timber sash windows.

The interior contains some exposed timber framing within the 17th-century eastern wing of the building.