Description

NEWTON ABBOT

SX8570 WOLBOROUGH STREET
1012-1/10/157 (South side)
22/03/83 Mackrell's Almshouses

GV II

Terrace of almshouses. 1874 by JW Rowell, extended in the same
style 1894.
MATERIALS: Devon limestone crazy-paving rubble, continuous
slate roof with moulded rubblestone ridge stacks to party
walls.
PLAN: double-depth plans.
EXTERIOR: one- and two- storeys with attics; symmetrical
15-window range, each house is one-window range. Plinths and
rubblestone relieving arches and stone mullions to 2-light
first-floor windows.
Two entrance bays flanking the centre are stepped forward with
wrought-iron finials to the coped gables and pierced trefoils
to the apexes; transom and trefoil heads to the first-floor
windows; diagonal offset buttresses below moulded string
courses to the ground floor flank pointed-arched entrances
with labelled hoodmoulds.
The right-hand entrance has an inscription in the tympanum
over a shouldered-arched opening which reads "By the grace of
God the Mackrell alms-houses built and endowed by Thomas and
Sophia Mackrell, natives of Wolborough were extended by the
erection of eight additional dwellings in the year of Our Lord
1894." A similar inscription to the left-hand entrance is
dated 1874.
Three groups of six almshouses to each side have similar
smaller gables to half dormers with shouldered arches to each
3-pane light of the first-floor windows.
A low wall with chamfered coping supports moulded columns with
diagonal braces to lean-to glass and slate verandah roofs
between gabled and buttressed porches to each house.
Three-light to the left and four-light ground-floor windows to
the right have timber mullions and transoms. Larger units to
each end are similar to the entrance range with 3-light
windows and entrances in gabled porches to the returns. The
rear is in similar style.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
A distinguished composition in Devonian limestone, by a
noteworthy local architect.

Listing NGR: SX8544670935

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26548178

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2