Lees Rest Houses

Lee's Rest Houses is a group of almshouses, now used as homes for older people, built between 1912 and 1915. Designed by TH Hare for the trustees of the will of Dr CA Lee, the buildings are constructed in brick with ashlar dressings and hipped plain tile roofs, executed in the Neo-Georgian style. They feature a plinth, shallow angle pilasters, dentillated wooden eaves, and grouped coped brick stacks. Windows are predominantly wood mullioned casements with leaded glazing.

The buildings are arranged on a terrace around a square sunken garden. The composition consists of five linked residence blocks on the east and west sides. At the north end stands a central entrance block flanked by single residence blocks at right angles, forming an entrance court. At the south end, a library block faces onto the lawn and is flanked by residence blocks enclosing a rear service yard.

The northern entrance block is two storeys with an 11-window range, featuring two ridge stacks and two side wall stacks. It has a pedimented central portico with ashlar Ionic pilasters and a round-arched carriage entrance with double keystone. The tympanum contains an oval cartouche with festoons inscribed "Lee's Rest Houses". On either side of the portico, there is a 3-light window on each floor. Beyond these, a recessed bay projects with a centre containing two small windows flanking a blank panel beneath a cornice and central pediment, with small 3-light windows above and below. On either side of the ground and first floors are round windows. Projecting end bays complete the façade, each with a 3-light window on each floor. Low walls with concave ramped coping link the block to the flanking residence blocks.

The residence blocks facing the entrance court are two storeys with a 10-window range, each having a single ridge stack and two side wall stacks. They follow a similar design to the central block, with a central projection featuring two 3-light windows on each floor replacing the portico. These blocks are linked to those flanking the central lawn by a coped brick boundary wall that incorporates a central semicircular flat-roofed shelter.

On either side of the central lawn are five residence blocks, each two storeys with a 9-window range and featuring two side wall stacks and a single ridge stack. The fronts face outward and are similar in design to the other residence blocks. Towards the centre, each block has two square bay windows with three lights on each floor, flanked by single small windows with a doorway below, followed by similar single-bay windows. The blocks are linked by single-storey open shelters with gabled roofs. Openwork iron lamp standards line the terrace wall.

The library at the southern end is flanked by residence blocks of the same design. It is single-storey with a central block topped by a gabled roof featuring a square domed lantern with a weather vane. Two gable stacks rise from the roof. The front has five cross casements beneath a low crenellated parapet, with a double doorway flanked by pilasters at either end. At each end, a slightly recessed hipped wing contains three cross casements. The left wing has a box dormer on three sides with a 3-light window, while the right wing has a side wall stack.

The interior of the entrance block contains a replica room from Dr Lee's house, furnished with original furniture and fittings.