Paine'S Almshouses

Paine's Almshouses are an early 17th-century building, situated on West Street. Two two-storey wings stand with gable ends facing the road, separated by a garden and linked at the road end by a central wall. This wall contains a doorway with a four-centred arched head within a moulded surround. Above the doorway, the wall coping is stepped and features three obelisk finials, the central one positioned on a three-quarter segment. The walls are constructed of rubble and have stone slate roofs. Both road-facing gable ends have a small square finial with crenellated tops. Each gable also features a two-storey bay with a five-light mullioned window; the east wing has a hipped slate roof over this bay, while the west wing has an embattled parapet. Other windows are spaced irregularly, some being stone mullioned, and others simple early metal casements with leaded lights. A datestone inscribed 'D.G. 1753' is set into the west wall of the west wing. The almshouses form a group with the Church of St Wilfred, Paine’s Almshouses and Oundle Congregational Church.