1 and 3 High Street, including studio range to the rear of number 3

1 and 3 Sandgate High Street, including studio range to the rear of number 3

Two adjoining buildings constructed between 1873 and 1891, probably in the late 1880s. Number 1 is a ground-floor shop with residential accommodation above, while number 3 comprises a former photographic studio and shop.

Both buildings are of brick construction with cement render. The shopfronts are glazed and timber with stucco ornamentation. Principal roofs are covered with natural slate, and number 3 has a partly glazed roof to the first floor.

Number 1 occupies a deep rectangular plot extending south from Sandgate High Street, with extensions to the rear. Number 3 occupies an adjacent plot of similar depth but slightly wider, with a rectangular principal building, an irregularly shaped rear yard, and beyond that a single-storey annex (an original structure appearing on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map). A narrow passage along the west flank of number 3 provides access to the rear yard and annex, with the first and second floors extending over the passage.

Number 1 has three storeys. The street elevation ground floor features a plate-glass shopfront with a central door in a recessed, canted lobby with moulded stall risers. To the east is a rusticated and vermiculated pilaster rising to a moulded cornice spanning the shopfront width. A separate adjacent door, probably a later addition, provides direct access to upper-floor accommodation. The first floor has a canted bay window and narrow staircase window linked by string courses continuing from sills and drip moulds (the staircase window is a modern uPVC replacement). The second floor has a pair of sash windows within a moulded surround with heavy cornice, plus another staircase window. A roof gable above is carried on moulded consoles. Rear and west elevations mostly feature modern uPVC windows.

Number 3 has two and a half storeys. The ground floor has an Italianate shopfront with plate-glass windows on moulded stall risers and a canted, recessed entrance lobby. Wide window arches with enriched spandrels spring from slim glazing bars and carry a moulded entablature spanning the ground-floor width. To the west is a Palladian-style arch with a metal gate providing pedestrian access to the rear yard. The arch and shopfront are flanked by rusticated and vermiculated pilasters. The first floor is fully glazed, originally housing the photography studio, with eight bays of continuous four-pane windows set within moulded arcading similar to the ground-floor shopfront. Above this is a mono-pitch, partly glazed roof. The first floor is flanked by moulded pilasters each bearing a carved head with urn finials projecting above the glazed roof eaves. An attic storey set back from the glazed first floor has three small windows and a moulded entablature topped with further urn finials. The second-floor west elevation of the party wall with number 1, facing over the glazed roof, bears a moulded sign inscribed "W H JACOB PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST".

Number 1's interior has retail space on the ground floor with residential accommodation above. The ground floor contains three principal rooms arranged linearly plus a former bathroom in a rear closet wing. The middle room has a fireplace with a moulded surround. The back room's brick fireplace has been rebuilt, though the timber bressummer may be original.

Number 3 also has ground-floor retail space with accommodation above. The ground-floor shop is essentially one room with a central staircase and WC. The staircase has turned timber balusters flanked by a pair of unworked timber posts installed after the 1980s. The first and attic floors have been converted into a residential unit. The first-floor glazed studio retains original decoration to rear and side walls: moulded panelling, entablature and pilasters with crocket capitals, presumably designed to provide an attractive backdrop for portrait photography. Ironwork supports for the glazed roof survive, though glass and timber elements have mostly been replaced during post-1980s conversion. Street-facing windows have replacement glass in original timber frames with brass latches; internal shutters are modern replacements. The original darkroom on this level has been converted into a bathroom. The waiting room, which retains its original glazed door, is now a study. A second doorway formerly linking this room and the studio has been blocked with a bookcase built into the moulded doorframe. The attic storey is accessed by a post-1980s spiral staircase replacing the original ladder.

A single-storey studio range lies to the rear of number 3, separated from it by a small yard. This range has been altered into habitable space with large semi-circular windows inserted into the north elevation, modern rooflights installed, and a circular window added to the west elevation. The panelled timber door is thought to have been salvaged from elsewhere.