God's Place and lobby to Church of St Mary

This is an almshouse dating to circa 1437, located in Ewelme. A licence to establish the almshouse was granted in 1437, with the foundation likely completed by 1442, funded by the Earl and Countess of Suffolk. The buildings are constructed from uncoursed limestone rubble, with an old plain-tile roof and brick lateral stacks. The layout is a courtyard design. The main range is single-storey with an attic, featuring a five-window facade. A projecting red brick porch, with a crow-stepped cross-gable, is located to the right of centre, and has an arched doorway within a taller lancet surround with a trefoil top. Fenestration is largely irregular, composed of two-light wood casements. A two-light stone mullioned window is present in the cross-gable to the left. There are three gabled dormers. The central courtyard is cloistered. An internal wall is timber-framed with brick infill. The outer wall features a red brick base surmounted by an open timber-framed arcade supporting a lean-to roof. Each side of the courtyard displays a Tudor-arched doorway with three trefoil-topped wood lancets above, topped with a cross-gable with ornamental carved bargeboards. The original plan incorporated eleven dwellings, each containing a ground floor room and an upstairs room, arranged around three sides, with probable former warden’s accommodation on the fourth side. Each dwelling has a lateral stack on the external wall. A lobby connects the almshouse to the Church of St Mary, featuring Tudor arches to doorways on all four sides, with carved shields supported by angel heads positioned above. The inclusion of brick in the porch, cloister walls, and other elements represents some of the earliest use of brick in the county.