The Old Custom House

The Old Custom House, built between 1737 and 1739, stands on the site of four earlier cottages which were acquired by John Seale who then erected the new building. It was subsequently leased to the HM Customs and Excise. An extra storey was added around 1930, and the building was converted into a domestic residence around 1985. The exterior is painted Flemish-bond brick with brick chimney stacks at the front and rear, and a slate roof.

The building was originally two storeys with attics but was raised to three storeys around 1930. The symmetrical front façade has a 1:3:1 window arrangement, with the central section projecting slightly under a pediment. The ground floor has 16-pane sash windows with flat arches, while the first floor has larger 12-pane sashes with low segmental arches. Three 12-pane sashes were added to the second floor in the 20th century. The central doorway features a double 3-panel door with a plain overlight, set within a timber surround with an eared architrave and segmental hood supported by shaped timber brackets. The date 1739 is painted below the doorway. A plat band is present at the second-floor level, replacing the original eaves cornice. The roof has deep eaves with a plastered soffit, a parallel gable-ended shape, and a front pediment. A section of the original lead downpipe remains, with winged cherub heads on the fixing straps.

The interior is well-preserved and includes panelled areas in the entrance passage with flat rails, muntins, and vertical plank panelling. There is an open-well staircase with slender turned balusters, blocks, turned newel posts, a moulded flat handrail, and a curtail step. The first floor has a timber box cornice. Late 20th-century partitions curve around a central moulded plaster section of the ceiling, featuring a hollow rib oval panel surrounded by female heads and fleur-de-lys-like finials. The building shares architectural similarities with The Mansion House on Mansion House Street, built in 1736. A photograph of the Custom House, taken before the addition of the third storey, was published by Freeman in 1887. The Old Custom House is part of a notable group of listed buildings situated on the old quay.