On the south side of the church-yard are
ST. CHAD’S ALMSHOUSES,
wretched hovels, projecting considerably into the adjoining street of Belmont. They were founded in 1409, by Bennet Tipton, a public brewer, then residing at the College, who, so far as can be ascertained, did not make any provision for the support of the almspeople. An annual rent-charge of £8, charged upon the Lythwood estate by the family of Ireland, and a payment of 2s. 2d. from the Mercers’ Company, constitutes the whole endowment, which is distributed in allowances of 14s. 7½d. per annum to each of the inmates. These tottering habitations, from the want of a fund for judicious repairs, are capable of affording little comfort or accommodation to the infirm tenants, who are nominated by the proprietors of the Lythwood estate.
Opposite to the almshouses are
THE JUDGES’ LODGINGS,
a handsome house, purchased by the county in 1821, and appropriated to the accommodation of the judges and their retinue during their attendance at the Assizes.
Passing down College Hill, we have on our right the south elevation of the Public Rooms. In this spot previously stood the remains of
VAUGHAN’S PLACE,
an ancient stone mansion, erected in the early part of the 14th century, by Sir Hamo Vaughan, knight, of West Tilbury, in Essex, or by his father, Sir Thomas Vaughan, knight, of Stepney, members of an old Welsh family, probably of the illustrious lineage of Owen Gwyned. By marriage with Eleanor, daughter and heiress of Sir Hamo, Reginald de Mutton, member of a family conspicuous among our early Bailiffs, acquired this property, which thenceforth became, for many generations, the town mansion of the Myttons, and by whose descendant, the late John Mytton, Esq. of Halston, it has been sold. The spacious hall and adjacent apartments now contain