Sketchley

Sketchley is a large building from the early 19th century, originally started in 1809 and opened in 1821 as the New Assembly Rooms. It was funded through public subscription, but the amount raised was insufficient, leading to its use as a school of art, the Ipswich Girls School, a motor works, and a clothing factory. It currently operates as a dry cleaning works.

The west front is constructed of grey gault brick and features a parapet and cornice. The building stands three storeys tall and has five window ranges with double-hung sashes that include glazing bars, set in plain reveals. There are raised bands at the window sill levels of the first and second storeys, and the central three-window section projects slightly forward. The first-storey windows are adorned with balustraded recessed panels beneath the sills. The ground storey is notably tall, almost two storeys high, and features semi-circular arched windows with keystones at the outer ends, framed by pilasters, with the inner ones being Ionic. The central section now includes a 20th-century shop window.

All the listed buildings on Northgate Street, except for the garden wall to No 9, form a group with No 43 (Great White Horse Hotel) on Tavern Street, No 2 on Great Colman Street, and part of Nos 2 to 12 (even) on St Margaret's Plain.