Almshouses And Chapel At Ngr 485383

A group of three almshouses and a hall designed by Richard Cromwell Carpenter in 1852 for Francis Wegg-Prosser. The buildings are constructed of snecked sandstone with limestone dressings and a plain tile roof, running north to south. The almshouses occupy the northern section as single-storey structures, while the hall stands at the southern end. Originally a single high storey, the hall was horizontally divided during a 2012 survey to create two storeys. A basement beneath the hall houses the kitchen and service rooms.

The principal west-facing front overlooks the park towards Belmont House. The hall at the right displays a three-light mullioned window and a two-light window, each with segmental relieving arches and trefoil heads above the lights. The sunken basement area in front has been extended in the late 20th or early 21st century to fully expose the basement walling and windows, which consist of two-mullioned lights and single lights with chamfered surrounds. Buttresses with offsets rise between the windows on both floors and to each side. Gables have coping stones. An octagonal lantern sits at the centre of the ridge, partly rebuilt in the early 21st century.

The row of almshouses is slightly recessed to the right, featuring a shared porch with a catslide roof supported on five square timber posts with angled braces. The wall behind contains six lancets with tympana and three doorways with chamfered surrounds and heads featuring figurehead label stops. At the far left, the start of a further door surround ends at the building corner, marking where work was completed in 1853 before the original design was finished. The ridge stacks have been reduced from three to two in number.

The southern gable end is blind, with a central buttress and offsets to its lower body. The east face shows the hall at the left with a massive chimneystack at its centre, flanked by offsets and a blank square panel with chamfered surround near the top (the chimney flue was being rebuilt at the time of the 2012 survey). A buttress with offsets stands at the far left. Both the south and east sides of the hall have been tanked and covered with waterproof mastic. To the right is a projecting bay with a basement-level entrance, a lancet to the left, and a five-light mullioned window to the upper floor. Further right is a two-light mullioned basement window, beyond which is another projection partly extended in the early 21st century, featuring a five-light window at the upper level and a single lancet. The northern gable end is of rubble stone, apparently intended as a temporary measure when building work halted in the 1850s.

The basement kitchen contains a large stone fireplace on its eastern wall with a broadly splayed two-centred arch. Other rooms at this level include a scullery and barrel-vaulted storage. The wooden staircase connecting to ground level has been removed. The hall features a large fireplace on its eastern wall with deep moulded brackets supporting an angled stone hood. The hearth has a broad two-centred arch with rich moulding to its forward edge. An inserted floor dates from the early 21st century. Above this, the hall roof has arched braces with chamfered edges rising to a collar, a single rank of chamfered purlins, and boarded apex above collar level.

Each cottage was originally planned with two rooms: a living room accessed from the front door and a bedroom with an angled hearth. In all cases the dividing wall has been removed.