Large building, constructed in 1896 for George Hatton’s department store and the ‘Hatton’ is still visible, along with a date, at the top of the Biggin Street façade. The ground floor is heavily inserted for a modern commercial use and retains few of its original features. It is mostly glazed with two recessed porch areas both with two double doors. A small remnant of the original shop front is visible over the southern party wall where a plastered console is visible, aligning with the top the fascia containing the commercial signage. This fascia protrudes slightly from the upper floors and there is metallic flashing above this and directly below the first-floor windows. The upper floors look only partially occupied with the first floor in use as storage. They are in brick and retain many of the original and decorative architectural features. The first to third floors have a symmetrical appearance and may be roughly divided into three bays, separated by plaster pilasters. At the first-floor level there are five windows; one in each of the outer bays and three in the larger central bay. Located at the very centre is a large canted bay window, the base of which rests on the protruding fascia over the ground floor. This window appears to be a later insertion, it has a timber surround and mullions painted bright white which differs from the plaster detailing on the surrounds of the other windows. The windows on either side of the bay window are narrower, they have plasterwork on the surrounds which has been moulded to imitate large blocks and have a decorative header that includes a small semi-circular pediment. The windows in the two outer bays are larger, they have the same plasterwork detailing on the surrounds which is also present on the mullions dividing the windows into two parts. The keystone above each of the windows has been moulded to form a face (wearing a winged helmet). This keystone, along with a set of scrolled brackets, supports an overhanging balconette located beneath the second-floor windows on the outer two bays. There is a string course at the top of the first floor, level with the tops of the window headers. All of the windows on the second floor align with, and are the same size as those below them. As is the case on the first floor, the central window appears to be a later insertion, it is divided into three parts with a timber surround and mullions painted bright white. All the others have moulded plaster surrounds and mullions. The plasterwork differs from the ones on the floor below, all have triangular pediments with scrolled details above them, with two scrolled brackets beneath the each of the pediments to support them. As mentioned above the windows on the outer two bays have protruding balconettes (which lost their railings), all of the others have slightly protruding sills with small scrolled brackets below. Between the tops of the pediments over the second-floor windows, and the base of the third-floor windows, there is a highly ornate entablature, supported by the numerous pilasters located across the façade. This forms a continuous sill for all five of the third-floor windows, which again align with the windows on the lower floors. A decorative Palladian window is located centrally on this floor, with moulded plasterwork over the mullions and surround. Above the third-floor windows is a plastered cornice and parapet which can be divided into five segments by the finials located at the tops of the pilasters. The central portion forms a large pediment to the elevation and contains the original ‘HATTON’ which would have originally advertised the department store. The sections on either side of this are plain while the outer two segments both have decorative balusters and a central date stone reading 1896 with semi-circular sunburst pediments over the date. A number of decorative plaster pilasters are located across the façade. There is one over each of the party walls, both are partially fluted and have Corinthian style capitals. They extend from the base of the first floor to the top of the second floor - they do not continue onto the third floor where there is, instead, plaster moulded to imitate quoins. Two further pilasters are located between the central bay and the two outer bays. This pilaster also extends onto the third floor, though only begins in the upper half of the first floor. These are semi-circular and partially fluted, each has two capitals, one at the base of the entablature and another at the base of the cornice, the upper is an ionic style capital while the lower is Corinthian style. The third floor has a further two pilasters located between the windows within the central bay. Some of the plasterwork across the façade is weathered and there is some staining to the brickwork and a small amount of vegetation growth. Despite this the building appears to be structurally sound and this elevation is filled with a wide variety of highly decorative architectural features, most of which are in a good condition.

The ground floor openings are heavily inserted and modern for a commercial use. There are two sets of glazed double doors set within recessed porch areas. The rest of the ground floor is glazed with large, near floor to ceiling sized panes within metallic frames (the frames for the doors are also metal). The windows on the upper floors retain many of their original details on the surrounds (described above). There are five windows per floor, varying in size but aligning across the floors. The central window at the first-floor level is a large canted bay window, the base of which rests on the protruding fascia over the ground floor. It consists of three sashes, the outer two being slightly narrower than the central. This window appears to be a later insertion, it has a timber surround and mullions painted bright white which differs from the plaster detailing on the surrounds of the other windows. The windows on either side of the bay window are narrower, each consists of a single two pane timber framed sash. The windows on each of the outer bays consist of two, two pane sashes with plaster mullions between and the tops of the upper parts of each of the sashes have a very slight arch. The second floor windows are similar to those on the floor below, the main differences being the lack of an arch over the windows on the outer bays, a flat central window (also a later insertion) and the upper parts of each of the sashes which are divided into two panes by timber glazing bars. The third-floor windows are all the same as the second floor aside from being slightly shorter and the centrally placed Palladian window. All windows appear to be well kept and in a good condition. (1)

<1> Kent County Council, 2019, Historic building condition asseesment and photographic survey of Dover Town Centre (Unpublished document). SKE52120.