The Almshouse And Former School And Boundary Walls And Gate Piers To The Road

The Almshouse and former School, along with boundary walls and gate piers to the road, is a row of seven almshouses, now four almshouses and a disused school. It was built around 1707-09 by Thomas Hayward of Badminton for Mary, the first Duchess of Beaufort. The building is rendered with freestone quoins and features a hipped Cotswold stone slate roof, ashlar stacks with a cornice, and a coved eaves cornice. It is designed in the Queen Anne style and has two storeys with a layout of three, three, three, three, and three bays. The outer and central sections are slightly advanced and topped with coped pediments that display the Beaufort arms in the tympanum, featuring full armorial bearings with crests and supporters in the center, and a diamond shield in an elaborate cartouche under a coronet at the ends. The windows are two-light cross windows with diamond pattern lead glazing. There are plain square-headed door openings between each window, with panelled doors that have the upper two lights glazed with diamond pattern lead cames. The central door features an ashlar bolection moulded surround. The boundary walls are low, coped, and constructed of coursed squared rubble, with central ashlar gate piers topped with ball finials.