14 Claremont

Former printing works and newspaper office at 14 Claremont, built between 1876 and 1879 for Frederick William Parsons (1844–1900) as the Hastings Observer Newspaper office, designed by William Lochhead Vernon (1846–1914). The building was converted to retail and residential use during the 1980s.

Construction is in red brick laid in Flemish bond with stone detailing, applied timber framing, sgraffito and ceramic tile decoration, beneath a slate tiled roof.

The building is an end-of-terrace structure with some connection through to the Brassey Institute, details unknown. A shop occupies the ground floor, with one entrance to Claremont and a second entrance on the canted corner to The Alley.

The exterior displays Venetian Gothic influences. The building rises to four storeys, plus basement and attic. The attic features a half-hipped dormer to the front.

The ground floor shopfront, facing Claremont, consists of timber framing with six by four panes. A double doorway enters the lobby with stairs to the left, and an arched doorway opens to the shop on the canted corner with a side lane to the right. The left-hand doorway and shopfront are framed by panelled pilasters with foliate capitals supporting large console brackets. Above runs a timber fascia panel with zig-zag carving, carrying the painted lettering "F. J. PARSONS, OBSERVER OFFICE". To the right of the double doorway stands a slender cast iron column with capital. The double doors themselves are faced with diagonal boarding. Above the canted doorway to the shop is a large moulded stone corbel bearing a grotesque detail.

The first and second floors on the Claremont frontage each contain three metal casements set within recesses rising from the shopfront fascia to stone four-centred arch window heads. Between the first and second-floor windows within each recess are three decorative spandrel panels containing sgraffito illustrations of printing processes. The central panel bears a bust of William Caxton, the English printing pioneer, inscribed "W.C 1477 YE LYFFE MASTER OF YE CRAFT SO LONG TO TRN".

Projecting from the third floor is a wide timber-framed oriel supported on a deep cove with curved brackets mounted on carved corbels at each end. The cove and oriel panelling are decorated with sgraffito in red and buff-coloured foliage pattern. Within the cove decoration are three roundels inscribed with the names of innovative printers: "GUTTENBERG 1450" (inventor of the printing press), "CAXTON 1477" (who introduced the printing press to England), and "WALTER 1877" (referring to John Walter, proprietor of The Times, who in 1814 secretly introduced steam-powered newspaper printing machinery). The oriel contains two groups of three sashes with single sidelight sashes. The attic dormer carries two sashes, a coved eaves cornice decorated with sgraffito, and pierced bargeboards.

An ornate gate of industrial design encloses the passage along the north side, installed following the building's renovation during the 2010s. The side elevation return has two sash windows under pointed stone arches at ground floor level, and a high-set five-light casement beneath a central sash window at top-floor level. Further along The Alley, fenestration is segmental to the ground floor, round-shouldered to the first floor, pointed to the second floor, and flat-arched to the third floor. The ground floor also has two pairs of timber loading doors. The second floor carries metal reinforcement ties, some of which brace across The Alley to the adjacent building. The rear elevation has regular fenestration largely obscured by external metal fire escapes.

The lobby interior retains ceramic tile paving, including an inscription, and the original staircase survives.