Old Customs House

The Old Customs House, dating from the early 19th century and possibly earlier, is a pair of houses. It is constructed of red Flemish-bond brickwork with Gault brick dressings and has a clay plain tile roof, gabled to the southeast and hipped to the northwest. The building is two storeys high with attics and cellars, and features a symmetrical facade with two flat-roofed dormers behind a parapet. The front elevation has a four-window range of recessed double-hung sash windows with small panes. The central section projects slightly, with two windows breaking forward. All windows are topped with flat rubbed brick arches and elongated brick keystones, which on the first floor connect with a projecting string band below the parapet. The ground floor mirrors this detail with two additional windows and two recessed entrances, each with a keystone above and a tall door featuring six raised-and-fielded panels above two flush panels. A raised platform with two lateral flights of four stone steps and simple cast and wrought-iron handrails stands in front of the entrances. A high tarred plinth has a moulded top. The northwest flank presents similar features, including windows with keystones, a two-storey lean-to block with a Welsh slate roof, and two horizontally sliding casements under segmental arched heads. There are three small, irregularly placed stacks, and two rooflights are visible on the northwest roof face. The interior of No.2 house includes two large bridging floor joists and smaller floor joists which may predate the front facade.