Horncastle Almshouses

The Horncastle Almshouses are a group of six almshouses built in 1852 in a Tudor style. They are constructed of red brick with grey brick diapering and stone dressings, with an old tile roof. The building is 1 1/2 storeys high and features six ridge chimneys with paired shafts displaying alternating spiral and diapered raised patterning. Six gabled dormers have 3-light mullion casement windows with leaded panes, and six similar four-light casement windows are on the ground floor. A slight central break is accentuated by a pediment, grey brick headers, red brick quoins, and a Tudor archway containing a beaded door with a rubbed brick relieving arch. A passage runs through the centre of the building, providing access to the rear of each individual almshouse. The building has been modernized, and rear outshuts have been altered. A stone tablet in front of the building reads: "These Almshouses were erected and endowed by the late Mrs Elizabeth May and Miss Mary Lyne of Burghfield in this county for 6 poor women, 3 belonging to Tilehurst and 3 to Burghfield parishes. January 1st 1852." A four-foot-high brick wall with stone-capped gatepiers lines the street in the centre.