Chamberlaine'S Almshouses

NUNEATON AND BEDWORTH ALL SAINTS SQUARE SP38NE (East side) Bedworth 5/4 Chamberlaine's Almshouses 10/09/74 (Formerly listed as Nicholas Chamberlaine Almshouses and the Parsonage House adjoining) GV II*

Almshouses. Rebuilt 1840 by Thomas Larkin Walker for John Toon. English bond brick with blue brick plinth and sandstone dressings. Plain-tile roofs have ridge cresting and stone-coped gable parapets with kneelers. Brick ridge and end stacks have diagonally-set square shafts with moulded string courses and cornice, and embattled tops. H-plan, forming 3 sides of a courtyard. Tudor Gothic style with 4-centred arches. 2 storeys. Symmetrical. Main range of 4-1-2-1-4 bays. Central hall block is taller. Projecting gabled end bays have diagonal buttresses. Moulded Perpendicular doorway and windows with hood moulds. Right bay has doorway with Gothic-glazed double-leaf sash doors. Left bay has 2-light window. First floor has similar but smaller windows. Gables have moulded cornice, small lancet openings and heraldic beast finials. Centre has full-height 2-light windows. Cornice and parapet. End stacks. Large central whitewashed turret. Lower square stage has string course with vestigial pediment below. Diagonal buttresses with pinnacles. Clock with hood mould. Quatrefoil panel above has hood mould. Octagonal second stage has louvred openings. Ogee lead roof with finials. Cloisters have moulded arches, and lean-to roofs with stone-coped embattled parapets, rising into crow-stepped gables above- entrances to houses; stone shields have house numbers in Roman numerals. Left and right ranges have 4-bay arcades. Paired chamfered straight-headed doorways throughout; right range has blocked door. Chamfered stone cross windows with painted iron decorative glazing throughout. Ground floor has 2 pairs of windows. First floor has gable with paired windows. Parapet and stack of 4 shafts between each pair of houses, and stack of 2 shafts between individual houses throughout. Each wing is of 1-1-2-1-2-1-2 bays with 16-bay arcades. Paired doorways have late C20 doors inside. First floor has 3 gables with paired windows. 2-window return sides to square have diagonal buttresses, and central buttress to left wing. Ground floor windows have hood moulds. Gables have large Gothic carved stone panels. Left panel is inscribed 'Founded by Mr. Nicholas Chamberlaine 1715'; right panel is inscribed 'Rebuilt and Enlarged 1840'. End stacks have Gothic stone panel. To rear short wings have 2-bay arcades. Interior: Hall is plastered, with grained woodwork. Elaborate traceried screen with gallery above. Hall bay has moulded plaster arch with nook shafts. Stone Perpendicular-style fireplace with Delft tiles. Crested linenfold panelling and traceried doors. Moulded Perpendicular roof. Room to right has Gothic painted wood fireplace. (Buildings of England: Warwickshire, p89)

Listing NGR: SP3597587073