Description

MARSHFIELD C.P. HIGH STREET (north side)
ST 7773
13/114 Crispe Almshouses and chapel
17.9.52 (formerly listed as Almshouses)

G.V. II*

Row of 8 almshouses and central chapel. Dated "1612" - "1619", for the Crispe
family. Ashlar; Cotswold stone slate roof with coped raised verges and saddle
stones; overhanging eaves and convex moulded cornice; ashlar ridge and stacks
with moulded cornice. Single storey on a plinth and attics in 8 stone gables
which are coped and have a typical Cotswold finial. Single window and door per
house; the plank doors are grouped in 4 pairs. 2-light casement windows with
ovolo moulded mullions and surrounds, under a continuous string course on the
ground floor and under drip moulds in the gables; the centre 2 windows flanking
the porch have semi-circular heads. Single storey projecting porch to the
chapel; embattled parapet, and segmental headed door surrounds, ovolo moulded on
the exterior and chamfered on the interior. Above the porch is a central wide
gable which bears 2 sets of Crispe armorial bearings between 3 Corinthian style
engaged columns under an entablature and cornice. Central square clocktower,
surmounted by a broached octagonal spire which has a mushroom shaped finial and a
weathervane. Interior: stop chamfered beams to the houses; plain interior
to the chapel with two inward leaning piers which support the tower. The
westernmost gable is inscribed: "1612./10.DIE.AUGUSTI./THOMAS.CRISPE./FILIVS./
NICHOLAV.CRISPE./POSVIT.HVNC.LAPIDEM.". The easternmost gable is inscribed:
"1619./30:DIE:IVLII:/NICHOLAVS:CRISPE:/FILIVS:ELTAE:CRISPE:/POSVIT:HVNC:LAPIDEM:"
A very good example of C17 vernacular almshouses, occupying a very important site
as the first building in the village street.

Listing NGR: ST7739073771

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17556924

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey