The Old Post Office

The Old Post Office is a former Post Office building located on South Embankment in Dartmouth, dating from around 1890. The rear of the building is made of plain red brick, while the south side is rendered. The front features a rusticated ashlar plinth made of limestone, with Flemish-bond red brick above and Bathstone dressings. It has end stacks with brick chimney shafts and a slate roof, following a double-depth plan.

The building has three storeys and a symmetrical four-window front designed in the Italianate style. The windows are round-headed on the ground and second floors, while the first floor has segmental-arch heads, all fitted with horned sashes that do not have glazing bars. The ground floor includes a chamfered plinth above the limestone base. Originally, there were two round-headed doorways at the front, one on each end, but the right doorway has been blocked and replaced with a window that matches the others. The left doorway retains its original door with faceted panels beneath a plain fanlight. The doors and windows are framed with Bathstone surrounds and hoodmoulds, featuring projecting keystones that rise from stone string courses. There are stone string courses at sill level on the upper floors and stone quoins at each end. A deep moulded stone cornice and a low brick parapet with stone coping complete the exterior. The roof runs parallel to the street and is gable-ended.

The left side of the building is rendered and contains two large sash windows beneath low segmental arches. There is a 20th-century inserted doorway near the front, and the rear corner also has stone quoins. Inside, the left front doorway leads into ground-floor offices, which were originally part of the stair hall. An inserted doorway in the left side wall now leads to the original open-well stair, which features turned balusters. Other original features likely remain elsewhere in the building. The Old Post Office is included for its group value.