Norris Homes

Norris Homes, formerly known as Norris Ladies Home, is a row of eight almshouses built between 1892 and 1893 by architect Watson Fothergill in Nottingham, commissioned by Mary Smith Norris in memory of her brother John. The building was restored in 1991 and features red brick construction with ashlar, blue brick, and terracotta dressings. The roofs are gabled and hipped, covered with plain tiles, and adorned with terracotta finials and ten tall, elaborately moulded brick stacks.

The exterior includes a deep blue brick chamfered plinth, moulded sill and lintel bands at the ground floor, and two blue brick bands above. The windows are wooden framed cross casements with leaded glazing. The structure is two storeys high with a symmetrical U-plan front, featuring a recessed centre under six gables, flanked by projecting hipped wings. The central section has two three-light windows, flanked by buttressed triangular porches, each with two plank doors that have ogee heads. Beyond this are two additional windows and hipped half-porches at the return angles. Above, there are two two-light windows in each bay, with gables displaying patterned tile hanging. The hipped wings feature a canted hipped bay window with a 1:2:1 light arrangement, and above it, a three-light window.

The left corner of the building has a bell housed under a gabled canopy. The right return features a central pent-roofed wooden porch, flanked by a window on the right and an inscribed plaque with side columns on the left. Above the porch is a portrait bust of Mary Smith Norris, 1827-1909, set in an octagonal surround, flanked by a small window. To the right, there is a round turret topped with a swept conical roof and a weathercock. At the rear, lean-to privies are attached by side walls, and there are four hipped through-eaves dormers. The interior is reported to retain original doors and staircases, although the fireplaces are not original.