Royal British Legion Club

The Royal British Legion Club, formerly known as the Mason’s Arms, is a timber-framed building dating to the late 15th century, with significant modifications from the 19th century and earlier. It is situated on Church Street, Tewkesbury, and was originally part of a longer terrace of buildings, numbers 35 to 51.

The building is two storeys and has a basement, with a four-windowed street frontage. The first floor features braced box framing and contains C18 three-light and two-light casement windows with horizontal bars, and triple two-light casements with a central unit lowered to bressumer level. The ground floor is constructed of brickwork, incorporating a four-pane triple sash window, a C18 shop front, and a deep-set, early three-panel door within heavy post framing. A cusped flat ogee head sits above the door. The right return is plain brick with a raised brick-coped gable on a kneeler. A deep wing extends to the back, featuring a framed gable end with a large eaves stack and a small ridge stack. The back of the main block has various additions and casements overlooking the adjacent property, number 49, including an early two-light gabled dormer. A cellar grille is located far to the left, and a small brick stack is positioned at the front of the ridge, near the left end.

The interior of the building has not been fully inspected. The roof structure is believed to be concealed, but likely similar to that of the other buildings in the terrace. Remnants of a wide C18 fireplace with a shouldered architrave, heavy chamfered beams, a panel of wattle and daub preserved under glass, and an early plank door to the cellar remain. A very wide, blocked fireplace is present in a back room. There is some original braced framing, although much is hidden by later ceilings and panelling.

The building is of outstanding architectural interest as part of a medieval terrace, originally built as a speculative development for the Abbey. Unlike many of the other buildings in the terrace, the early structure has not been significantly altered, but the recessed placement of the early door indicates the extent of its former jettying.