Almhouses

This is a terrace of ten almshouses built in 1665, located on Church Street in Gamlingay. The almshouses are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond and feature a tiled roof with end parapets on kneelers and a deep overhang at the eaves, which has a moulded wood cornice. There are five red brick ridge stacks that are symmetrically arranged. Each almshouse has a ground floor plan consisting of one room with a kitchen at the rear, forming one side of a small enclosed yard.

The building is two storeys high, with a plat band between the storeys that wraps around the gable ends and the rear wall. The centre of the terrace displays a tablet with a shield of arms, flanked by two upright oval windows with moulded brick architraves. The tablet is inscribed with "VIVAT obi NATUS JOHANNES JACOB Miles Barotus ANo DONi 1665." On the first floor, there is an alternating pattern of one three-light and one single light casement window, featuring repaired leading and some original glass. The single light casements, which illuminate the staircases, have elliptical arches with raised imposts and keyblocks.

At ground floor level, each cottage has a doorway beneath a gauged brick arch, with a two-panelled door and a fanlight divided by a mullion, along with a three-light cross-frame leaded light casement under a similar flat arch. The rear of each cottage has a segmental arch leading to an enlarged opening. The enclosed yards are bordered by a single-storey kitchen, which has been modernized with tiles and wood cladding but retains red brick in the end wall, continuing as the back yard wall for the almshouses. A brick wall dating from 1665, which is partially repaired, stands at the front.

Inside, each cottage features an exposed stop-chamfered main beam and a newel staircase. The almshouses were built with an endowment from Sir John Jacob.