Harvey'S Hospital And Attached Rear Boundary Walls To East And West

Harvey's Hospital and Attached Rear Boundary Walls to East and West, Chard

An almshouse, rebuilt in 1841 or 1842 in the Tudor-Revival style, largely constructed from stone salvaged from the previous building of the late 17th century. The original almshouse, known as Harvey's Hospital, was established in Chard in 1663 through the will of Richard Harvey, a merchant from Exeter who was born in Chard. By the 19th century the building had fallen into poor repair and was demolished and replaced at a cost of £1,741. The new buildings contained sixteen apartments available to both male and female occupants, with the latter occupying first-floor apartments. Repairs were undertaken in 1876 when the chimneys were replaced, and again in 1922–23. The sixteen apartments were converted to eight units in the 1970s.

Materials and Construction

The buildings are constructed of Ham Hill stone ashlar with slate roofs and concrete chimneystacks dating to the early 20th century.

Plan and Layout

The almshouse comprises two parallel ranges of two storeys, each two rooms deep with a central through passage. They are linked by high walls which enclose a central courtyard with outside water closets flanking the courtyard on either side.

Exterior

The principal elevation of the south range presents a symmetrical five-window façade onto the High Street. A central Tudor-arched door with hoodmould and carved stops is set beneath a two-light oriel window. All lights are glazed with cast-iron lattice casements with shallow segmental arches; the three-light windows to the far left and right, and the two-light windows flanking the door, have transoms to the ground floor. All windows are surmounted by label moulds. The end and centre bays project slightly and are gabled; the centre gable carries a carved shield in the apex, whilst the side gables are crowned with ornamental finials. A string course follows the contour of the gables except at the centre; below it in the gables and above it elsewhere runs an inscription in oxidising copper. The chimneystacks at the gable ends have two octagonal shafts each, whilst the square stack over the central gable has four octagonal shafts.

The rear elevation is plainer, with label moulds above Tudor-arched casement-moulded outer doorways with sunk spandrels. The central doorway is more elaborate, with foliate label stops and set within a slightly projecting gabled central bay. Two-light windows with diamond-latticed cast-iron casements, transomed to the ground floor except for one-light windows above, have label moulds. Three-light first-floor windows serve the central bay. The stack surmounting the gabled bay has four octagonal shafts.

The front (south) elevation of the north range mirrors the rear elevation of the south range, except for mid-20th-century leaded casements and a four-octagonal-shaft stack surmounting the gabled bay to the front. The rear elevation is constructed of limestone rubble with Ham Hill stone dressings. It features a central planked door beneath a label mould, and two-light windows throughout, also beneath label moulds; those to the ground floor are transomed.

The courtyard is flanked by high rubble walls with Ham Hill stone coping. Two former water closets, one on each side (now converted to heating and storage units), are canted and project forward with Tudor-arched chamfered entries to loggias and cornices to the parapets with moulded coping. Further walls enclose a rear garden of approximately 70 metres by 12 metres; the western wall is of limestone rubble, whilst the eastern wall is of English bond brick.

Interior

Partial inspection reveals that the through passages contain two Tudor-arched, casement-moulded doorways. The flats contain two-panel doors.