The Almshouses, and adjoining forecourt and garden walls is a Grade II* listed building in the Shropshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 January 1952. A C17 Almshouse. 1 related planning application.

The Almshouses, and adjoining forecourt and garden walls

WRENN ID
rooted-footing-wind
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Shropshire
Constituency
Shrewsbury MP: Julia Buckley (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
29 January 1952
Type
Almshouse
Address
The Almshouses, and adjoining forecourt and garden walls, SY4 3HJ
OS grid reference
SJ 474 147
Coordinates
52.7281, -2.77903
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Almshouses, built in 1672 at the expense of Sir Samuel Jones, consist of a row of almshouses arranged around a square courtyard, with associated forecourt and garden walls. They are constructed of red brick with plain tile roofs.

The building is a single storey with attic accommodation. Moulded brick string courses are situated above the ground floor windows. The gabled ends have parapets, and large dormers with segmental-headed two-light wooden casements are visible in the roof. Integral brick lateral stacks extend from the rear, connected to the attics by pitched-roofed links and featuring paired diagonally-placed square shafts. Segmental-headed two-light wooden casements and mainly segmental-headed boarded doors are present throughout. The north range has eleven windows, with a door between the first and second windows from the left and two to the right; it has six dormers and two stacks. Formerly doorways are evidenced by straight joints beneath the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth windows from the left. The west range, with nine windows, has a door between the fourth and fifth windows from the left, five dormers, and three stacks. Straight joints beneath the first, fourth, seventh, and eighth windows indicate former doorways. The east range, also with nine windows, features a door between the fourth and fifth windows from the right. Five dormers and four stacks are present, with former doorways indicated by straight joints beneath the first, fourth, seventh, and eighth windows. The front gable ends have segmental-headed two-light wooden casements, while the ground floor features cross windows, with the left-hand window blocked but retaining its frame.

A red brick enclosing wall extends to the south, with the right-hand portion appearing partially rebuilt in the mid-20th century. It has chamfered grey sandstone coping. A central grey sandstone ashlar gateway is notable, featuring a chamfered rustication, an ovolo-moulded elliptical archway with rusticated voussoirs, moulded imposts, a frieze, and a moulded cornice. A large semi-circular pediment with a globe finial and carved coat of arms in the tympanum tops the gate. Flanking ashlar walls have chamfered coping, stepped up to the gateway with carved scrolls. An inscription on the frieze is largely illegible. C17 brick walls with stepped grey sandstone coping enclose the gardens to the rear.

The almshouses were founded in 1670 by Sir Samuel Jones to provide accommodation for sixteen elderly people, each receiving an annual allowance of £10. The inscription on the gateway, partially obscured at the time of survey, reads: "These Almshouses and Chappel were Given / and Endow'd by Sr Samuel Jones Knight / Anno Domini 1672". The almshouses and associated chapel are situated within the parkland surrounding Berwick House.

Local climate

The Almshouses, and adjoining forecourt and garden walls receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 64% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 92% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 47 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 88% of listed buildings. Of these, 24 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Berwick Chapel Grade II* 169 m
  2. Home Farmhouse Grade II 361 m
  3. Berwick House Grade II* 435 m
  4. Laundry Cottage Rossall Cottage Grade II 1.0 km
  5. Rossall Farmhouse Grade II 1.0 km
  6. Upper Berwick Grade II* 1.2 km
  7. Gravelhill Grade II 1.2 km
  8. Keeper's Cottage Grade II 1.3 km
  9. Great Berwick Farmhouse Grade II 1.3 km
  10. 5,6 AND 7, HOLYHEAD ROAD (See details for further address information) Grade II 1.6 km