Almshouses lights, Ledbury

St Katherine' Hospital, Ledbury, was founded in 1231 and parts dating from the C13 and C14, including the chapel, survive. The almshouses that we see today are the joint work of Robert Smirke (1822-5, the south end and central tower) and William Chick (1866, the north end). They are in the Tudor style of stone with half-timbered gables and an iron veranda at the rear. Here they are seen with Christmas decorations and trees with lights. In the centre is the cenotaph and to the right the clock tower of the Barrett Browning Institute.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Ledbury timber framing

There are two particularly noticeable buildings on the main street in Ledbury, Herefordshire. One is the timber-framed, black and white, Market House of c.1617. The other is the Barrett Browning Memorial Institute with its prominent clock tower, a competition-winning structure designed by Brightwen Binyon in 1892 and built in 1894-6. It is named after the poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a resident of the area for many years. Pevsner was less than impressed by the building and one can certainly question the materials, colours and aspects of how the overall design sit in the corner location, as well as the dissonant note it strikes across from the Market House. What is undeniable, however, is the importance of the tower as a visual punctuation mark half-way along the main street.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100