Building record 0113500000 - 40-54 CHURCH STREET, QUAINTON

Dimensions - Length 34m, Width 6m.
Plan Form - Rectangular.
Grade II+. Row of 8 almshouses with small outbuilding at each end. Dated 1687 on plaques, erected and endowed at the expense of Richard Winwood whose father, Sir Ralph, was principal Secretary of State to James I. Thin chequer brick with vitreous headers, moulded brick plinth, gauged first floor band course, brick pilasters at each end. Old tile roof, brick copings to main gables. 4 intermediate brick chimney stacks, each with 4 attached diagonal shafts. Symmetrical range of one storey and attic and 8 bays. Paired casements with diamond leading,those to ground floor with gauged brick heads, those to upper floor set above the eaves in gables with moulded wooden bargeboards. These gables, except at centre, alternate with smaller gables over single leaded casements. 2-panel doors below in wooden frames with gauged brick heads. Porch projections between bays 3 and 4 and bays 5 and 6 have shaped gables, blind painted windows to attics, and band courses raised to front over semi-circular brick arches with moulded edges and gauged key and impost blocks. Each porch has shaped plaque with raised inscription tablet in scrolled surround and a coat-of-arms with flanking cornucopiae. Side walls of porches have similar arches with wooden shutters, and leaded oval windows above. Gable walls of range have segmental-headed openings, those to right gable blind, those to left with barred wooden casements. Rear is similar to front but with 12 small even gables, one segmental. Small symmetrical outbuildings are important parts of composition and have coved segmental gables to front. Side walls have some timber framing but are partly rebuilt in brick. RCHM II p.246 Mon.10 (B5).
At NGR (B6).
The picturespue row of almshouses is next to the church where the founder, Richard Winwood, has a splendid tomb (B7).



The Winwood Almshouses, eight cottages in one range, facing N, on the W side of the churchyard. The upper storey is partly in the roof; the walls are of brick; the roofs are tiled. The almshouses were built in 1687, as recorded on two inscriptions in front, but there are some indications of the wall at the back being of two dates. The building is a good example of late 17th-century work; the brick gables and the coat of arms over the archway of each porch are especially noteworthy. The plan is rectangular, with two porches in front; the cottages
contain one room on each floor, and on the ground floor a scullery, in which is a staircase; there is one large chimney stack between ever pair of cottages. On the N elevation the two porches are each of two storeys with a curvilinear stepped gable of brick; between them are two small, plain gables; beyond the porches are also six plain gables, three on each side, with dormer windows between them; the entrance archways of the porches are semi-circular, and of brick with springers and key-blocks of stone; the stone string-course between the storeys breaks upwards over each archway, and supports a stone panel with an inscription recording the erection and endowment of the almshouses in 1687, by Richard, son and heir of Sir Ralph Winwood, knight, principal Secretary of State to James I.; over each panel are the quartered arms of Winwood impaling Read, with the phoenix crest of Winwood above them; against the walls of each porch, inside are stone benches. The windows on the ground floor and in the gables have wood casements and leaded lights. The four chimney stacks have each four square shafts set diagonally and built of thin bricks, apparently of an earlier date than those used in the rest of the building; the two W stacks have been rebuilt. The S elevation has a series of small plain gables, and a curvilinear gable of brick which corresponds to that of the E porch on the N elevation. At each end of the almshouses is a small out-building of one storey; the walls are of brick with semi-circular gables at the ends. Condition-Very good (B8).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.