The Almshouses

The Almshouses, formerly known as Nos. 16-19 King Street, are a pair of 19th-century almshouses located in Bishop Auckland. They were built in 1845 for Bishop Edward Maltby, replacing earlier almshouses constructed in 1662 for Bishop John Cosin. Designed in the Tudor style, the buildings are made of coursed squared stone with ashlar quoins and dressings. They feature porches with ashlar plinths and a slate roof adorned with ashlar gable copings and chimneys.

Originally consisting of four almshouses, they now function as two, with each original house having one window. The gabled porches have ashlar plinths, and between each pair of houses are boarded doors set in stone surrounds on the left returns, while windows have been inserted in the doorways on the right returns. Each front window is located beneath an inscribed stone plaque in the gable peak. The left plaque, which is partly eroded, reads "JOHN COSIN BISHOP OF DURHAM AD 1662," while the right plaque states "ENLARGED BY EDWARD MALTBY BISHOP OF DURHAM AD 1845." The buildings also feature chamfered surrounds with long and short stones forming jambs to renewed 2-light casements flanking the porch. The roofs have flat gable copings on moulded kneelers, with damaged finials on the porches, and conjoined ashlar chimneys on stone plinths with ashlar cornices at the ends and at the center of the ridge. The interior has been partly inspected and shows that all features were renewed in the late 20th century.