Geograph - photograph every grid square

The almshouses were designed by JW Rowell, built in 1874 and extended in 1894. There must be around 40 dwellings altogether. The walls are of Devonian limestone crazy-paving rubble. The slate roof is continuous with moulded rubblestone ridge stacks to party walls. The building is double-depth in plan, ie, there are houses front and back, in similar style. The southwest (right-hand) entrance has an inscription in the tympanum 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 northeast (left-hand) entrance is dated 1874. The building is a distinguished composition by a noteworthy local architect.

The listing doesn't say anything about the form of the original building nor that of the extension. My assumption is that the 1874 entrance was central between two ranges of twelve houses (six each front and back) all on one level. The extension was thus another entrance and range to the southwest with the addition of the larger houses at each end to maintain a symmetrical composition. The quiet change of level seen to the right of the 1894 entrance, and its direction away from the town, all adds weight. The smooth line of the boundary wall to the street, and the uniformity of the Irish yews, disguises the change of level and suggests that the trees were planted in 1894 or later.

Listed Grade II, ID 1256722
Information from the English Heritage listing Link