7 and 7a, The Esplanade

Nos 7 and 7A on The Esplanade were built around 1850 to 1860. This three-storey building is faced in stone rubble that mimics brickwork. It features rendered composite pilasters on the first floor that support a heavily moulded cornice. The second floor has rusticated pilasters, a block cornice, and a parapet. The central windows are recessed casements with rendered surrounds, and there are superimposed bay windows with three casement lights on either side, with a parapet and cornice that project forward over them. The building has an interesting Victorian shop front, which includes heavy Roman Ionic pilasters flanking doorways on the east and west sides, a frieze, and a dentil cornice above. The shop front itself has a window with two lights made of plate glass, set back behind an arcade of three bays supported by twisted cast iron columns with foliate capitals and ornate cast iron tracery in the spandrels. Nos 1 and 7 to 14, in succession, form a group with this building.