The Ship Inn

The Ship Inn is an inn dating back to the 17th century, with alterations in the late 19th century. It is constructed of painted Portland stone ashlar with a slate roof. The building is part of a group of structures built around the same time, extending along Maiden Street and returning to St Edmund Street.

The exterior is two storeys and an attic. The windows are generally stone mullioned casements, flush set, with double chamfer. The south-facing end, which looks onto the Quay, features a small two-light window in the attic, above a larger two-light window with a label mould that continues around the quadrant corner. On the ground floor is a 20th-century recessed multi-pane bow window, framed by a reeded pilaster surround and dentil cornice. The gable has a central stone stack with a thin cap, and saddle-back coping swept to haunches, returned on the quadrant to the right. The quadrant corner has a large two-light wooden casement with a transom above the panelled doors, which have a recessed panel over. The long front to Maiden Street has three Victorian gabled dormers with six-pane sash windows. Ground-floor windows are late 19th-century insertions, but match the originals in detail. These include a three-light casement with dentilled transom and label, a smaller single-light window with label, a wide light with a steel multi-pane window, a spandrel, and a label, and a two-light window with external shutters. A wide doorway with a moulded four-centred stone lintel is located to the far right, partially beneath an adjacent building. A tall brick stack is situated at the eaves between the first two dormers.

The interior was only partially inspected and appears to contain little of the original detail. While the loss of interior detail is regrettable, the building retains importance due to its early street frontage.