The Constitutional Club And Shops

The Constitutional Club and shops, located on the east side of Great Square in Braintree, is a notable building dating from the 18th century. The front is made of red brick and features a parapet and rusticated quoins, which are part of a 16th-century timber-framed and plastered house. Originally constructed in an L-shaped plan, it was expanded in the 18th century to form a rectangular layout. The building stands three storeys high and has a seven-window range, with the central window being a three-light bay that extends through the first and second storeys. The inner flanking windows are blocked. The windows throughout are double-hung sashes with glazing bars, set in plain reveals with keystones.

On the ground storey, there are two 20th-century shops at the north and south ends, while the central section, dating from the 19th century, features a six-panel door flanked by rusticated brick pilasters, a rectangular fanlight with radial glazing bars, and a concrete canopy adorned with ornamental iron railings. The east (garden) front is timber-framed and plastered, showcasing a jettied first storey and three jettied gables supported by moulded bressumers. The windows here are metal casements with leaded lights. A six-panel door with raised and fielded panels is topped with a frieze featuring fret ornamentation and a cornice. The roofs are tiled.

The Constitutional Club and the shop occupied by Cameron Chemist are part of a group with No 23 and Hill House, Market Place.