St Nicholas' Almshouses

St Nicholas' Almshouses are a group of almshouses built between 1652 and 1656, with extensions added in the 19th century and restoration completed in 1961 by Donald Install. The building is rendered with limestone dressings, features brick valley stacks, and has a pantile cross-gabled roof. It has a single-depth plan, is two stories tall with an attic, and consists of an 11-window range. The structure presents a long, uniform façade with equal gables, and includes a 19th-century three-gable return on the right, one of which is set diagonally across the corner.

The entrance gable is slightly larger and located five windows from the left. It features a bolection-moulded surround around an ovolo-moulded timber frame with heart-shaped chamfer stops, and a framed 15-panel door. The ground floor has three-light and the first floor has two-light ovolo-moulded mullion windows with lattice-leaded casements. Above the entrance, there are semicircular heads, and the first-floor windows have hoodmoulds, along with three ground-floor windows from the 19th century. Small louvred windows are present in the gables beneath small cornices, with the one over the entrance having a raised surround. The gutters between the valleys lead to a full-width box gutter.

The interior has not been inspected but is reported to be largely remodelled from the restoration. However, the ceiling of the old chapel above the entrance remains intact, featuring a plaster barrel vault decorated with figures, a coat of arms, and strapwork with arabesques and birds, reminiscent of the style of Vredeman de Vries. During the restoration, the foundations of a bastion of the City Wall were uncovered.