Rafa Club

The RAFA Club is a building combining club and commercial premises, dating back to the 17th century, although the window arrangement is characteristic of the late 19th century. It is constructed of Portland stone ashlar, with a slate roof. The building is part of a larger block of development extending to the Quay and St Edmund Street. The north end, where the property returns to St Edmund Street, features high coped gables facing east and north. The ground floor incorporates public conveniences, and the principal property does not have a direct entrance from St Edmund Street.

The exterior is two storeys with an attic. A dormer window sits above 2-light and 4-light casement windows in plain reveals. At ground level is a doorway leading to an adjacent commercial property, followed by a wide 6-panel door under a flat basket-handle arch, and another 4-light casement. A small 2-light flush stone-mullioned casement sits above a 20th-century door, both with a label course. The gable above has 2-light and 3-light early mullioned casements with labels. Three small square lights are visible at ground floor level, alongside a further 20th-century door with a label. A cannon ball remains embedded in the gable masonry to the left of one casement. The return to St Edmund Street displays a similar gable with 2-light and 3-light windows, the latter being a 20th-century replica; a 2-light window sits to the right, all with label courses. The ground floor has a central doorway and shallow flanking lights, all dating from the late 20th century. The gables have saddle-back copings and haunched and scrolled kneelers; the north gable is narrower and springs at a higher level than the other. This section features a plinth with a moulded offset.

The interior retains no visible fabric from the original 17th-century construction; the roof was not inspected. The building was part of a 17th-century development alongside the Ship Inn and Duke of Cornwall, and is valued for its contribution to the street scene and for retaining some 17th-century fabric, which is now relatively scarce in the town. The loss of interior detail is regrettable.