26, MARKET PLACE (See details for further address information)

No 26 Market Place is a Grade I listed building, designed by the architects known as the Bastards of Blandford. This three-storey structure has a five-window front, featuring a stone ground floor and red brick with stone dressings above. The building has a similar central feature to Nos 18 and 20, but the yard entry has an arched head. The pilaster caps have in-turning volutes, which are similar but not identical to those found on Nos 18 and 20. The heavily enriched modillion cornice also shares similarities but differs in detail.

The central second-floor window is round-headed with a moulded archivolt and a foliated keystone, while the other second-floor windows have eared architraves and shaped aprons. The first-floor windows feature rusticated quoins and voussoirs. There are two pedimented dormers. The shop fronts are appropriately scaled, with the one at No 73 East Street (Electricity House) being modern, and the one at No 26 dating from the 19th century, complete with panelled pilasters.

Inside No 73, behind the ground floor showroom, there is a room with panelling and a plaster ceiling, which served as the study of John Bastard. This building, along with the other listed buildings in Market Place, and Nos 59 to 73 (odd) East Street, Conyer's Filling Station, Nos 1 to 7 (odd), Nos 2 to 8 (even), and No 12 West Street, as well as the Church of St Peter and St Paul, form a significant group.