Description

NUNEATON AND BEDWORTH ALL SAINTS SQUARE
SP38NE (East side)
Bedworth
5/4 Chamberlaine's Almshouses
10/09/74 (Formerly listed as Nicholas
Chamberlaine Almshouses and
the Parsonage House adjoining)
GV II*

Almshouses. Rebuilt 1840 by Thomas Larkin Walker for John Toon. English bond
brick with blue brick plinth and sandstone dressings. Plain-tile roofs have
ridge cresting and stone-coped gable parapets with kneelers. Brick ridge and end
stacks have diagonally-set square shafts with moulded string courses and
cornice, and embattled tops. H-plan, forming 3 sides of a courtyard. Tudor
Gothic style with 4-centred arches. 2 storeys. Symmetrical. Main range of
4-1-2-1-4 bays. Central hall block is taller. Projecting gabled end bays have
diagonal buttresses. Moulded Perpendicular doorway and windows with hood moulds.
Right bay has doorway with Gothic-glazed double-leaf sash doors. Left bay has
2-light window. First floor has similar but smaller windows. Gables have moulded
cornice, small lancet openings and heraldic beast finials. Centre has
full-height 2-light windows. Cornice and parapet. End stacks. Large central
whitewashed turret. Lower square stage has string course with vestigial pediment
below. Diagonal buttresses with pinnacles. Clock with hood mould. Quatrefoil
panel above has hood mould. Octagonal second stage has louvred openings. Ogee
lead roof with finials. Cloisters have moulded arches, and lean-to roofs with
stone-coped embattled parapets, rising into crow-stepped gables above- entrances
to houses; stone shields have house numbers in Roman numerals. Left and right
ranges have 4-bay arcades. Paired chamfered straight-headed doorways throughout;
right range has blocked door. Chamfered stone cross windows with painted iron
decorative glazing throughout. Ground floor has 2 pairs of windows. First floor
has gable with paired windows. Parapet and stack of 4 shafts between each pair
of houses, and stack of 2 shafts between individual houses throughout. Each wing
is of 1-1-2-1-2-1-2 bays with 16-bay arcades. Paired doorways have late C20
doors inside. First floor has 3 gables with paired windows. 2-window return
sides to square have diagonal buttresses, and central buttress to left wing.
Ground floor windows have hood moulds. Gables have large Gothic carved stone
panels. Left panel is inscribed 'Founded by Mr. Nicholas Chamberlaine 1715';
right panel is inscribed 'Rebuilt and Enlarged 1840'. End stacks have Gothic
stone panel. To rear short wings have 2-bay arcades. Interior: Hall is
plastered, with grained woodwork. Elaborate traceried screen with gallery above.
Hall bay has moulded plaster arch with nook shafts. Stone Perpendicular-style
fireplace with Delft tiles. Crested linenfold panelling and traceried doors.
Moulded Perpendicular roof. Room to right has Gothic painted wood fireplace.
(Buildings of England: Warwickshire, p89)

Listing NGR: SP3597587073

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Chamberlaine's Almshouses at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17550728

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

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)