3, South Quay

No. 3 South Quay is a late 16th-century merchant's house in Great Yarmouth, originally built in 1596 for Benjamin Cooper as part of No. 4 South Quay (listed separately), and later divided into two properties in the 18th century. Until then, the rear wing was part of the courtyard of No. 4, which was extended between 1603 and 1610; the courtyard remains, though extensively altered. The building was converted to municipal offices in 1989.

The front facade is from the early 19th century and is constructed of gault brick under a roof of black-glazed pantiles. The three-storey, three-window front has a 6-panelled door to the right, set within panelled surrounds, beneath an open pediment supported by block Doric entablatures and engaged columns. Above the door is a geometric fanlight. The ground floor to the left has two 6/6 sash windows under gauged skewback arches, and the first floor has three similar sashes behind a wrought-iron balcony. The second floor has three 6/3 sash windows. A modillion eaves cornice runs along the top of the facade, above which is a gabled roof, featuring an internal gable-end stack to the north.

A long, two-storey rear wing, whitewashed and with 19th and 20th-century windows facing north, is attached to the main house. The east gable of the rear wing has a four-light ovolo-moulded cross casement to the first floor, and further renewed two- and four-light cross casements. The hipped, two-storey block abutting to the south, a portion of the 1603 courtyard, has a six-light ovolo-moulded cross casement with a central king mullion on its courtyard side; the king mullion has a tapering baluster with fish-scale carving and a stylised Ionic capital. A similar four-light window is also present.

The interior of No. 3 is interlinked with Nos. 1, 2, and 2B (listed separately). The entrance passage has been removed. The mid-18th-century staircase has a turned balustrade, scrolled tread ends, and a ramped and wreathed handrail. The rear wing contains a 19th-century staircase with alternating barley-sugar and turned balusters. At the east end of the rear wing, on the first floor, is an office with a bridging beam featuring double sunk quadrants and a fluted tongue stop. An 18th-century fireplace is also present in this room. The adjacent room facing the courtyard retains small-framed early 17th-century panelling and a fireplace with bulbous side pilasters. Re-used 18th-century panelling is found within a cupboard.