St Oswald'S Hospital (Almshouses And Chaplain'S House)

St Oswald's Hospital, comprising almshouses and a Chaplain's House, was built in 1873 by Henry Rowe, the City Architect. It is constructed primarily of red brick with stone dressings, topped with a plain clay tile roof composed of 2-span sections, and featuring parapets along the eaves and gables. Prominent brick stacks rise from the roof, adorned with stone detail and pots. A stone bellcote is located on the rear of the gatehouse roof.

The layout consists of double-depth ranges arranged around a lawned courtyard, with the Chapel of St Oswald's partially enclosing the east side. Access to the courtyard is through a central gatehouse in the west range, and the Chaplain’s House is integrated into the north range. The architecture is in the Victorian Gothic style, characterized by paired gables.

The west (entrance) elevation has two storeys and 16 first-floor windows. Stone detailing includes parapets, copings, window and door surrounds, moulded string courses, a plinth, and a statue of St. Oswald. The first-floor windows are mainly double and staggered-triple lancet style, incorporating fixed and side-hung 3-pane metal casements. Ground-floor windows are predominantly 2 and 3-light square-head mullioned, with metal frames to the glazing. Small single-light windows are present on both floors. The gatehouse entrance features a pointed arch containing a pair of planked doors with ornate wrought-iron strap-hinges. Above the entrance is an ornamented staggered-triple lancet window, where the centre-light is blind and houses a statue of St. Oswald.

The south-facing street elevation is similar in design but incorporates more single-light windows. An extension to this wing was added around 1990. The courtyard elevations closely resemble those facing west, with access to each dwelling provided through planked doors with Caernarvon arch style heads, each incorporating a 3-pane overlight with an segmental-arched head. A clock is situated under a gabled hood-moulding in the apex of the gatehouse gable, with a bellcote above.

The Chaplain's House, built in a matching style, is taller and more ornate with a symmetrical composition. It has three first-floor windows of staggered-triple lancet style, each with a gable over. The central entrance has a planked door similar to those of the other houses, flanked by 1/1 sidelights. These are in turn flanked by four-light stone bays, each with Caernarvon-arch heads.

The interior of the buildings was not inspected.