40-43, WEST STREET

Nos. 40 to 43 on West Street in Alford are a group of four almshouses, originally built as six in 1870. The buildings are constructed from red brick with two blue brick bands, and feature ashlar and terracotta dressings. They have hipped slate roofs adorned with decorative ridge tiles and finials, and four ridge stacks with diamond set shafts. The design is U-shaped, consisting of a single storey with attics and a ten bay front, where the end bays are advanced and hipped.

The structure has a plinth and a moulded terracotta string course, along with bracketed eaves. The central entrance consists of a pair of half-glazed doors flanked by pairs of two-light casement windows, with additional single doors and further single two-light windows beyond. Above the entrance is a recessed square stone plaque that commemorates the foundation by Sir Robert Christopher in 1668 and the rebuilding in 1870, topped by a four-light window in a gable.

All windows feature chamfered mullions and surrounds, while the doors have shouldered surrounds. The central gable displays a scrolled cartouche of arms. On either side of the central section, there are gabled two-light dormer casements with carved bargeboards supported by wooden brackets. Connecting the advanced end bays is a low pierced brick wall with ashlar coping, and on either side of the central gateway are square piers topped with pyramidal copings.