Wessex Court 1 to 3 Esplanade, and 4 to 19 including Crown Hotel

This is a grand terrace of circa 1840-50, designed with a symmetrical composition that steps down a slope on a curved frontage, divided into three sections. The facades are stuccoed, with rusticated detailing to the ground floors and cast iron balconies on the first floor. The central block breaks forward slightly and rises to four storeys, while the wings are of three storeys, with the end houses projecting as terminal features. A moulded cornice and panelled parapet tops the terrace, although parts of the parapet have been removed. Various attics have been added in later years.

The centre block, which includes the Crown Hotel, features a two-tiered portico with Greek Doric and Corinthian columns. The upper tier of Corinthian columns rises through the first and second floors to the main cornice, which breaks forward below the top storey. A broad pediment sits above the latter and is aligned with the portico. The upper floors of the remaining part of the central block, along with the terminal houses, are articulated with pilasters.

Each house originally had three windows, with the glazing bars largely intact. The ground floor windows are round headed. The doors are panelled, each with a semi-circular fanlight. Number 1 (part of Wessex Court) has a lower ground floor storey to the west end due to the sloping site, with a returned balcony and two prominent three-storey bows, featuring a rusticated ground floor. Number 19 has a three-bay return front to the south with Ionic pilasters on the upper floors and a raised parapet at the ends. A central, tripartite first floor window is framed by a bracketed cornice, with a returned balcony in front.

The buildings form a group with Nos 1 to 19, The Villa, Esplanade Hotel, Nos 20 to 29 with the Esplanade Hotel, Belmont Road, and the Prince of Wales Hotel on Prince of Wales Terrace.