Chamberlaine's Almshouses

Chamberlaine's Almshouses are a group of almshouses rebuilt in 1840 by Thomas Larkin Walker for John Toon. They are constructed of English bond brick with a blue brick plinth and sandstone dressings, featuring plain-tile roofs with ridge cresting, stone-coped gable parapets with kneelers, and brick ridge and end stacks. The stacks have diagonally-set square shafts with moulded string courses, a cornice, and embattled tops. The buildings are arranged in an H-plan, forming three sides of a courtyard, and are designed in a Tudor Gothic style, characterised by 4-centred arches.

The main range is symmetrical, with 4-1-2-1-4 bays, and includes a taller central hall block. Projecting gabled end bays have diagonal buttresses. The façade features moulded Perpendicular doorways and windows with hood moulds. The right bay has a doorway with Gothic-glazed double-leaf sash doors, and the left bay has a 2-light window. First-floor windows are similar but smaller. Gable ornamentation includes moulded cornices, small lancet openings, and heraldic beast finials. The centre of the building features a full-height 2-light window with a cornice and parapet. A large, central, whitewashed turret rises above the building. Its lower square stage has a string course with a vestigial pediment and diagonal buttresses with pinnacles. Above sits a clock with a hood mould, followed by an octagonal second stage with louvred openings, and an ogee lead roof with finials.

Cloisters featuring moulded arches have lean-to roofs with stone-coped embattled parapets, rising into crow-stepped gables above entrances to the houses. Stone shields display house numbers in Roman numerals. The left and right ranges have 4-bay arcades. Chamfered stone cross windows with painted iron decorative glazing are found throughout, and ground-floor doorways are paired and chamfered. One doorway on the right range is blocked. Within the paired doorways are late 20th-century doors.

The interior of the hall is plastered with grained woodwork. An elaborate traceried screen with a gallery above is present. A moulded plaster arch with nook shafts highlights the hall bay, and a stone Perpendicular-style fireplace with Delft tiles provides a focal point. Further features include crested linenfold panelling, traceried doors and a moulded Perpendicular roof. A room to the right has a Gothic painted wood fireplace. The rear wings have 2-bay arcades. The left panel of a gable is inscribed “Founded by Mr. Nicholas Chamberlaine 1715”, and the right panel reads "Rebuilt and Enlarged 1840".