26, Church Street

This is a former general post office, now a shop, with a core dating to the 18th century. It was extended, refronted, and remodelled in 1867 at a cost of £1,300, funded by 20 local businessmen. The building is constructed of stucco over masonry, with an asbestos slate roof. It has a deep plan and is designed in a Classical style.

The building is three storeys high, presenting a symmetrical front of 1:3:1 bays, with flanking windows to the first floor only, above a low opening (passage) leading to doorways. Rusticated quoins are present, along with moulded architraves. The second-floor sills rest on brackets, leading to a moulded string and a heavy moulded parapet cornice, which connects to a triangular pediment over the central bays, notably broken forward. A granite plinth is also visible. Original horned sash windows are retained. The ground floor’s centre features three round arches (windows flanking a lower central doorway) supported by a Tuscan colonnade. The colonnade incorporates consoles serving as keyblocks to the windows under a moulded entablature. A glazed door may be original on the far left; the other doorway is 20th century.

The interior has not been inspected. The post office was established following a period of inadequate accommodation and administrative inefficiencies. The local businessmen purchased shares to fund the purpose-built premises, which facilitated the handling of the newly introduced electric telegraph in 1869, used for overseas calls. It served as Falmouth's post office until the construction of the present post office on The Moor in 1929.