Residents at six Grade 2 listed almshouses in the village of Amport are set to move back to their homes after a two-year refurbishment programme comes to an end.

The Sheppard’s almshouses were built and funded in 1840 under the guidance of Sophia Sheppard, the vicar’s wife after she was gifted a £10,000 endowment to build the cottages and a school in the village. 

Originally established to provide housing for ‘six poor widows of the parish,’ the one-bedroomed cottages have since evolved to accommodate both men and women in need.

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The project has been led by the Sheppard’s Almshouse Trust and overseen by architect, Charles Liddell and David Sloan of Harpoint Builders.

Chairman of the Trust, Chris Harris said work was nearly completed on four of the cottages: “It’s been a real exercise in teamwork, we’ve been incredibly lucky, the builders are wonderful, we have a great architect and we’ve had lots of support from the residents.”

The cottages have been brought up to date with modern kitchens, bathrooms, cosy sitting rooms, and bedrooms, but doors and fireplaces have remained, although spruced up, to comply with listed building regulations.

June Gould, 86 is one of the lucky residents who’s moved into her new home and said she's thrilled.

Resident Clive Chester, 69, is a long-term resident having lived in his almshouse for 15 years.

A former falconer at the nearby Hawk Conservancy Trust, Clive’s home is next on the list for a makeover; “I’m excited and it’s about time. I’ll move into one of the cottages while mine is done up, hopefully I’ll be back in my newly refurbished home by Christmas.”

(Image: Caroline Simpson) The pressure is on for local builders Dave Sloan, 47 and Max Webber.

Dave explained that working on listed buildings was not always straightforward: “You get a few surprises, when we opened the roof to put the dormer windows in, we discovered that the way the roof had been constructed made it tricky to access, so we had to rethink where we could lay our cables and ducts. It might take a bit of time, but we can generally come up with a solution.”
 

(Image: Caroline Simpson) With four cottages completed and two to undergo building work, the Trust has expressed its gratitude for contributions as it continues to raise funding to complete the project.

Chris Harris, said: "The Almshouses are an important and historical part of our community. We are delighted to have secured funding through the Almshouse Association, in addition to our reserves, enabling us to refurbish four cottages. However, we will still need to raise funds from other sources to complete the entire refurbishment.”

For more information or to make a donation, please contact: Chris Harris, Chair Sheppard Trust
c/o Broadwater, Amport, SP11 8AY; Phone: 01264772240; Email:sheppardstrust@gmail.com.