Former Pay Office (Building Number 1/11)

The former pay office, reputedly built in 1798 by Sir Samuel Bentham, is located at HM Naval Base on College Road. It has a 19th-century addition and was bomb-damaged around 1940 before being rebuilt. The building is constructed of grey brick in header bond, with red brick and ashlar dressings, and features a concealed roof.

Originally two storeys, it now stands as a single storey. The north elevation has four surviving bays, although the building originally extended further to the left. It has a plinth and four round archways, with the three on the right closely spaced and containing sash windows with glazing bars, including radial heads on the two left-hand windows. The left archway features a 20th-century part-glazed door and fanlight. All archways are connected by an impost band and have keystones that rise into a first-floor band. Traces of former first-floor windows are visible, with the wall now forming a parapet. The rear of the building shows much 19th and 20th-century graffiti. On the right side, there is a 19th-century single-storey lean-to wooden addition with wooden columns and windows in between.

Inside, the two right-hand bays feature wall pilasters and a central row of cast-iron columns designed as shafted columns with pronounced entasis, supporting quadripartite brick vaults. There is a strong-room with a safe, and the door and windows on the north front have wooden architraves and panelled reveals.

Historically, this building is believed to be one of the earliest examples of a fire-proof structure in the south of England, featuring iron columns and brick vaults.