2, High Street

This is an early 19th-century public house, formerly known as The Spotted Cow Public House, The Helmsman Public House, and The King’s Arms Hotel, situated on a corner plot overlooking the waterfront in Poole. The building is constructed of painted brick under a hipped slate roof.

The plan is single depth, with a curved corner, and the building is oriented roughly north-south. It is two storeys high with an attic, and has a seven-window frontage. The left-hand, two-window curved end features a curved roof. A left-hand doorway has an architrave, pediment, and panelled door, while a vehicle entrance is located one bay from the right-hand end. The first floor has flat brick arches over six-over-six-pane and three-over-nine-pane sash windows, with some blind first-floor windows. A partial ground-floor Venetian window in the curved end has a blocked fanlight, flanked by horned three-over-nine-pane sashes. To the right, segmental arches frame a two-light casement and a horned two-over-two-pane sash. Late 19th-century paired round-arched windows with moulded archivolts, keys, and stops are found to the ground floor left, with plate-glass sashes. The right-hand gable features an eight-over-twelve-pane sash on the first floor.

The ground-floor interior was altered in the mid-20th century with the insertion of a public house layout.

The public house was constructed in the early 19th century and has remained in continuous use since. It is designated at Grade II for its architectural interest, demonstrating a degree of classical detailing. The exterior remains largely unaltered since the late 19th century and contributes to the group value context of the surrounding listed buildings in the old town of Poole.