Centuries, 1 and 2

A medieval building complex of the 13th and 14th centuries with later alterations and additions, comprising almshouses in the centre of Nottingham.

The building consists of three principal sections. The south-east section fronting Bartholomew Street is built of Kentish ragstone rubble, two storeys with an undercroft beneath, occupying one bay. The south-west section, of two storeys spanning two bays, is constructed of coursed and roughly squared sandstone. The north-east wing, added in 1811, is one storey in three bays, built of ashlar with flint galleting. The roof is hipped with tiled covering and features four tall brick chimneystacks.

The building's plan reflects its evolution from a medieval trading establishment to a residential complex. The earliest south-east section originally contained an undercroft for storage or trade with living accommodation above. The south-west section has a through passage and probably once contained an open hall to the east, which was replaced by an inserted 17th-century chimneystack and floor, creating a communal heated ground floor room and a larger master's or prior's room to the west. The remainder of the building, including the 1811 north-east wing, comprised individual rooms for almshouse residents, though some internal partitions were subsequently removed.

The principal south front displays three Gothic-style early 19th-century pointed-arched casement windows with leaded lights, pintle hinges and stone drip-moulds. The off-central doorcase has a pointed arched doorway with stone drip-mould and a panelled door with arched heads. A straight joint marks the boundary between sections. The eastern bay has a medieval 13th-century pointed arched entrance to the undercroft. The east elevation along Church Hill features two 16-pane sash windows with earlier cambered brick arches above. The southern ground floor window sits within an earlier blocked medieval entrance. Before the 1811 north wing, which has three pointed-arched casement windows with leaded lights, pintle hinges and stone drip-moulds, there is another straight joint. The west side wall is predominantly tile-hung. The north side of the earlier wing has a roof in three hips with casement windows on the first floor set in brick surrounds and a garden entrance with cambered brick arch above. The west wall of the 1811 extension has cambered arched wooden windows with leaded lights in cambered brick surrounds and a large brick porch.

The undercroft retains a gabled stone niche, the remains of a stone staircase in the western wall and a chamfered wooden transverse beam. The entrance from Bartholomew Street leads into a through passage with a stepped stone corbel supporting a wooden beam. The prior's or master's room to the left has 18th- or early 19th-century ceiling beams, a four-panelled door, a large wooden fire surround and side cupboards. The large room to the right, originally the communal almshouse room, features a wide open fireplace with a wooden bressumer, brick arches and a 1687 iron fireback. At its southern end is an early 19th-century folding wooden screen to prevent draughts and a folding table. The ceiling has a central spine beam with floor joists. The south corridor has a beam supported on a stone corbel and a tiled floor. An eastern room has 18th- or early 19th-century central beams and floor joists; originally two rooms, it contains a triangular brick chimney, originally angled stacks in each room corner now centrally placed where the dividing wall is missing. Further north, the kitchen retains a further, probably medieval, stone corbel and the edge of a medieval stone doorway. A number of early 19th-century ledged plank doors survive throughout. The upper floor is accessed through the brick porch on the north-west side. The first floor largely retains original individual almshouse rooms, each with an 18th- or early 19th-century wooden fireplace (or late 19th-century in one instance) and built-in wooden cupboards. The formerly external wall of the north side of the south-east wing is visible internally.