almshouse

Terraced two-bay two-storey exposed rubble limestone former almshouse, built c. 1760, with a flat-roofed accretion to the rear, c. 1980. Pitched artificial slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods. Two rendered chimneystacks with plain clay pots. Roof lights to rear span, c. 1990. Squared rubble limestone walls to front and rear elevation. Camber-arched window openings, hand-made red brick flat arches, block-and-start reveals, limestone sills, exposed timber sash boxes and replacement one-over-one timber sash windows, with applied glazing bars. Square-headed door opening with red brick flat arch, block-and-start reveals, raised and fielded panelled timber door leaf, possibly nineteenth-century, and frosted glass overlight with leaded coloured glass, c. 1990. Facing onto Church Street and a small yard to the rear is enclosed by a rubble limestone wall.

This house forms part of a relatively uniform modestly-scaled terrace of three similarly scaled houses continuing the streetscape north of the former Bishop's Palace, though breaking forward the building line. Though simply composed, the former almshouse has a regularity of design and proportion, which is most evident in the window openings; they are smaller at first floor level than at ground level, and form vertically emphasised rectilinear openings. Historically there is a prominence of almshouses in the Nicholas Street area, which is further emphasised by the Villiers Alms Houses located further north along Church Street, and indicative of the growth of an established charitable tradition in the City.