Chubb'S Almshouses Chubb'S Almshouses And Attached Wall

Chubb's Almshouses and Attached Wall, Crewkerne

This complex consists of two blocks of four almshouses each, with an attached enclosing wall. The earlier block faces Court Barton and dates from the early 17th century, though it was substantially altered in 1887. The second block faces West Street and was built in 1897 to designs by George Vialls of Crewkerne.

Both blocks are built of coursed limestone rubble with Ham Hill stone plinths and dressings, and slate roofs. Each block comprises four units, with the Court Barton block having a lower rear extension to the right.

The Court Barton block is two storeys tall, with three courses of stone slate at eaves level, stone coping with moulded kneelers, and brick stacks to the gable ends plus one central ridge stack. The facade has four windows arranged in two symmetrical pairs flanking a central plaque with moulded architrave (inscription now illegible), which rests on a moulded string course above the ground-floor windows. All windows are 3-light leaded casements with hollow-moulded stone mullions, except the far ground-floor right which is 2-light. Plank doors stand under Tudor-arched architraves with sunk spandrels, paired at each end and flanked by casements. First-floor windows sit directly above those below at eaves level, where wrought-iron brackets support the gutter. The right return contains two ground-floor windows to the rear extension, and the gable end displays a pedimented plaque with fluted pilasters. The inscription records that inhabitants of Crewkerne raised £369.15s.9d by voluntary subscription in the Jubilee Year of Queen Victoria's reign on 20 June 1887, which was invested as £366.11s.6d in 3-and-a-half per cent India stock and added to the endowment fund.

The West Street block, built in 1897, contains four similarly paired dwellings with small single-storey rear extensions. The windows are comparable in style but larger: 3-light on the ground floor and 2-light above, set in full gabled dormers with the central pair united under a single large gable crowned by a finial and decorated with strapwork resting on a floating cornice supporting a plaque. Planked doors have overlights with Gothic-style glazing bars beneath Tudor-style arches. Above the doors at eaves level are small single-light windows. This block has a continuous string course above the doors, stone coping, stone stacks to gable ends, and one central stack.

The subsidiary features include a coursed limestone rubble wall with Ham Hill stone coping that encloses the front and right side of the West Street block. This wall attaches to the rear of the Court Barton block, sweeps down and curves into Oxen Lane where it reaches approximately 2 metres high. It rises slightly to two gate piers at the centre-front, which have swept, domed caps and support wrought-iron double gates.

The almshouses were founded through the bequest of Mathew Chubb and his wife Margaret, recorded in the oldest known document of 30 August 1710. Although an earlier document is dated 1644, the 1710 record confirms their gift of half an acre of ground and money for the perpetual relief of eight poor people.