St Mary'S Alms Houses And Chapel Of St Mary

St Mary's Alms Houses and Chapel of St Mary is an alms house row and chapel built in 1872 by Sir George Gilbert Scott in a 17th century vernacular style. The structure is timber framed with incised decoration in rendered infill and features plain tiled roofs with ridge cresting on the chapel, along with large stacks on the left end, left of centre, right of centre, and right end of the alms house row. There are eight alms houses with the chapel projecting to the left and a wing projecting to the right, forming a courtyard in front of the building. The alms houses are one and two storeys high with irregular facades, built into a hillside.

The chapel, located at the left end, has two storeys at the front and one storey at the rear, with coved eaves to the roof and a shingled lead fleche over the east end. The gabled end facing the street jetties out on the first floor, supported by end brackets. The ground floor features a central angle bay with leaded casement windows and a planked door at the centre of the south side (to the right) in a gabled porch, which has the date 1872 inscribed in the gable.

Inside, the chapel has a two bay timber framed nave with a stone fireplace at the west end, and a Neo-Norman chancel at the east end with a round chancel arch, mosaic inlay, and a wrought iron screen. The main range of the almshouses to the right is single storey to the left, featuring two gabled mullion and transom leaded casements. There is a planked door in a gabled timber framed porch. To the right, a large two storey gabled bay has its first floor jettied on brackets, with a central leaded mullion and transom casement window in an angled bay on the ground floor. The entrance porch is set back to the right of the gable, featuring an open Tudor arched recess porch and a gabled floor above with carving in the arch spandrels. There is a further one storey range to the right with two windows, a central gabled porch, and a planked door. An end wing projects to the right with a gabled front facing the street and on the left side. There is also a single storey rendered 20th century extension at the right end. The almshouses are an important group in the lane and were designed to complement the church to their left.