82-88, HIGH STREET

Nos 82 to 88 on High Street are a group of almshouses founded in 1633 by Sir Thomas Crew for six aged widows. The endowment was initially £24 and was later increased by Nathaniel Lord Crew, Bishop of Durham, in 1721 with an additional £12. The building consists of six two-storey tenements made of coursed rubble from the 17th century. It features a continuous hood mould over the ground floor, three-light stone mullioned windows, and elliptical-headed stone doorways. Each tenement has two-light stone mullioned windows with moulded square labels. The roof is made of stone slate and there are four moulded stone stacks with modern brick shafts. Prominently displayed at the center of the front is a shield of arms depicting a lion rampant and a chevron between three eagles' legs, representing Sir Thomas Crewe and his wife Temperance. At the back, the range is one-storeyed with single-light stone moulded windows.