Almshouses

This listing describes a remarkable and intact group of Jacobean almshouses, built in 1612 at a cost of £1,000, designed in an "I"-plan to honor James I. The architect is the same as that of Campden House and the Market Hall, commissioned by Sir Baptist Hicks. The almshouses feature ashlar stone on a moulded plinth, with stops for doors, and a Cotswold stone roof with gabled ends. The central portion has eight gables, each adorned with verges and finials, connected by a parapet.

The building is two storeys high and has ten windows, which are three and four light types, the latter featuring king mullions. The stone ovolo mullion windows have a continuous cornice mould on the ground floor. There are six Tudor-arched double ogee doorways, with Nos 3-10 being lobby types that have wooden ovolo-moulded frames for the inner doors. Two Tudor-arched doors are located on the gable ends, flanked by chimney breaks with diagonal stacks. The stone chimneys have moulded caps and weathering. A central heraldic panel displays the motto "Nondum Metam." The rear of the building is similar to the front but includes ground floor extensions. A date of 1625 is scratched on the north gable.