Plymouth Conservative Club And Attached Forecourt Railings

The Plymouth Conservative Club is a pair of houses that were originally built as part of a planned terrace in the mid-19th century. The building is constructed of stucco and features a tiled mansard roof with a moulded parapet cornice and slate hanging on the front, flanking the attic windows. It has stuccoed end stacks with moulded cornices and a double-depth plan.

The exterior consists of three storeys plus an attic over a basement, with a symmetrical four-window front that includes late 19th or 20th century two-pane horned sash windows. Notable stucco details include a tetrastyle Tuscan porch with a moulded entablature, a moulded cornice topped with a roundelled balustrade, and slightly projecting tripartite windows linked by a cornice string. There are also first-floor sill strings, eared architraves with moulded cornice hoods, and a second-floor sill string with round brackets for the shorter windows, which also have eared architraves. The central pair of doorways features a right-hand doorway that is partly blocked and fitted with a small sash window.

The interior has not been inspected but is likely to be of interest. The building also has a low freestone forecourt plinth topped with original wrought-iron railings, which have cast-iron finials in bays between arched open piers decorated with anthemion motifs, and turned cast-iron columns or lamp standards flanking the entrance. This building is part of an important planned group of terraces and villas designed by Foulston and his pupil Wightwick on the Hoe, which positioned Plymouth as a leader in town planning during the early to mid-19th century.