Description

BARNSTAPLE

SS558331SE CHURCH LANE
684-1/9/92 (East side)
19/01/51 Horwood's Almshouses

GV II*

Almshouses. 1674 (old list description). Started under the
patronage of Thomas Horwood, completed for his wife, Alice:
thoroughly renovated. Painted stone rubble, elevation to
Church Lane roughcast; natural slate roof with terracotta
ridge tiles; stacks mostly dismantled; cast-iron rainwater
goods; pitched stone paving to courtyard.
Originally 8 dwellings for 16 inmates. L-plan range, the
longer block backing onto Church lane, with an entrance
through it to a courtyard. Smaller, 2-unit block behind, also
parallel to Church Lane.
2 storeys. Street elevation blind except for courtyard
entrance which has moulded timber doorway with elaborate
ramshead stops with carved foliage detail. Slate plaque, a
copy of a more worn plaque inside the courtyard records `This
Alms Hous was founded & endowed by y worll Thomas Horwood
merchant twice mayor of this towne who was a worthy benefactor
and began it in his life, finished by his wife Mrs Alice
Horwood after his death who of her owne accord added the
adioying free school and endowed it for 20 poore children
forever 1659 abi et tu fac similiter'.
Inside the courtyard the main block has a regular 4-window
range with 4 double ovolo-moulded door frames with blind
scroll stops and stud and cover strip doors, mostly renewed, 2
on either side of the courtyard entrance, which has a similar
door frame. Doors and windows have timber lintels. 3-light
ovolo-moulded mullioned timber windows, glazed with diamond
leaded panes, the opening casement hung on cockshead hinges.
Ground-floor windows have lead drip ledges on moulded
brackets.
The shorter block of the L-shaped range has 2 doorways and one
2- and one 3-light window on the ground floor and two 3-light
windows, with a very worn inscription tablet, copied on the
exterior. The smaller, detached block has a brick stack at the
right end and a symmetrical 2-window range with a central
doorway matching the others and 2 ground- and 2 first-floor
windows, also matching the others.
INTERIOR: not inspected but said to be modernised. Bench with
turned legs mentioned in 1973 list description said not to be
on site.
The almhouses are adjacent to Horwood's School (qv) of 1659.

Listing NGR: SS5587233171

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532966

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

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)