The Museum

The Museum, built around 1870 and patroned by Mr. Thomas Philpot, is an L-shaped building made of red brick with stone dressings. It features large transomed and mullioned windows with leaded glazing. The gable end facing the street has splayed bay windows on both the ground and first floors, set within round-headed recesses. There is a stepped parapet with volutes on the left-hand return of this wing, which has three window bays; the windows in two of these bays are set in three-centred headed recesses and are topped by an attic storey with an oval lunette and gable.

At the rear angle of this wing, a projecting stairwell rises to form an octagonal tower, which has an octagonal lantern with a two-light window on each facet and a rounded roof with a tapering finial. There is also an east-west wing that is two storeys high and has two bays. The ground floor features a loggia with two stone arches supported by stone columns, and there are modern additions on the first floor.

The Museum and the Guildhall form a group with Nos 60 to 62 Church Street. From the sea, the rear faces of the Museum and Guildhall group with the sea walls at Gun Cliff and with the rear faces of Nos 1 and 2 Broad Street.