Ferry House

Ferry House is an office building constructed around 1870, with some alterations made in the late 19th century and in 1989. It is built from yellow brick, known as Beaulieu buff, and features a Welsh slate roof. The building has a T-shaped plan, consisting of a 3x5 block on the north side and a 6x4 block on the south. There are projecting porches on the north-west, south-west, and south-east elevations, which show evidence of being later additions but are closely contemporary with the original structure. The brickwork has horizontal rustication at the ground floor, and the windows are plain sash windows with four panes, topped with hipped roofs. There is a moulded band at the first floor and cornice levels.

The north elevation includes a reddish brick addition from 1989 and features a single bay two-storey porch with two attached rusticated brick piers. This elevation has six windows. The east elevation has five windows and a three-bay porch, which was originally one storey but was raised to two storeys in 1989 using reddish brick; it also displays marble war memorial plaques on either side of the doorway. The south elevation has three windows and a three-bay single-storey porch that covers the join. The building is topped with tall brick stacks.

Inside, the building was refurbished in 1989 but remains a very unaltered example of a custom-built Victorian office block. It features large rooms with high ceilings, good joinery, some cornices, and an open well stair within an arcaded space, although the arcade was infilled in 1989. The stair has stone treads, a wrought iron decorative balustrade, and a mahogany rail, along with a wrought iron screen at the head of the stairs. Ferry House is a notable example of Victorian functional design, originally built as the Docks Board Office and later used as the Southern Railway Docks Office.