The Bridges Almshouses in Keynsham within the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

were built around 1685. They have been designated as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The Almshouses were built by Sir Thomas Bridges and his wife Lady Anna Bridges (née Rodney) to provide accommodation for six widows and endowed a school for the town. This may have initially been for the widows of men killed in the Monmouth Rebellion. Cartouche on Bridges Almshouses

The terrace is made of three pairs of two-storey houses. They are constructed of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with moulded stone

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s over the two and three light windows, surmounted by

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered ro ...

roof. On the front of the building are

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

s with the arms of Bridges and his wife. The Bristol Road in front of the almshouse has been built over the original gardens and the level of the road has been raised so that the doors and footpath are below the level of the carriageway.

References

{{Authority control Keynsham Grade II listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Grade II listed almshouses