Almshouses and Raised Footway and Retaining Wall is a Grade II listed building in the Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 25 February 1955. Almshouses. 1 related planning application.
Almshouses and Raised Footway and Retaining Wall
- WRENN ID
- heavy-spandrel-tide
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Somerset
- Constituency
- Tiverton and Minehead MP: Rachel Gilmour (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 25 February 1955
- Type
- Almshouses
- Address
- Almshouses and Raised Footway and Retaining Wall, High Street, Bishop's Lydeard
- OS grid reference
- ST 168 298
- Coordinates
- 51.06176, -3.18759
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The building consists of almshouses dating from 1616, which were restored in 1854 and again in the mid-20th century. They were built by Sir Richard Grobham and restored by Mrs. Mary Hill. The structure is made of red sandstone random rubble with a slate roof, featuring coped verges and brick stacks that are corbelled out at the gable ends.
The almshouses are two stories high and have 11 bays. They include two- and three-light red sandstone mullioned windows. There are two segmental-headed doorways located between the third and fourth bays on the right, with the right-hand doorway being slightly larger and leading to a cross passage that provides access to the rear, which has an iron gate. Additionally, there is another pair of doors between the seventh and eighth bays, and a fifth door in the left end bay. The doors are 19th-century planks with ornamental hinges.
A coved string course separates the two stories. Above the left-hand pair of doorways, there is a recessed plaque displaying a coat of arms and the date 1616, while another plaque above the cross passage entrance has an inscription dated 1854. In front of the almshouses, there is a stone flagged footway with stone setts in the channel. A low red sandstone retaining wall topped with iron railings runs along the front, with steps at the right-hand end.
Local climate
Almshouses and Raised Footway and Retaining Wall receives an average of 900 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 68% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 76% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 22 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 77% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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