On my journey home from Gloucester today the traffic on the M4 was almost stationary so I took an alternative route via to try and keep moving. As I drove through the village of Froxfield, just west of Hungerford, I noticed these rather handsome almshouses standing alongside the road and just had to stop to take a look. This complex is called the Duchess of Somerset’s Hospital and it was built in 1686 to house widows from Wiltshire, Somerset and Berkshire. It’s an enchanting place and is still being used according to its founder’s wishes to this day. I’m rather grateful to the folks I saw queuing on the M4 – without them I’d never have discovered this place!

Lovely shots. I'm glad you saw the queuing ;-) Jarvo · 2010-07-18: 20:56

Beautiful set, and your explanation full of humor josy63 · 2010-07-19: 00:11

Nicve set andf good reportage mystic1 · 2010-07-19: 01:35

Beautiful, great shots! ????? · 2010-07-19: 02:05

nice reportage with cool shots miltonjacob · 2010-07-19: 03:56

Looks like a lovely place....nice captures! lookagain · 2010-07-19: 07:36

Beautiful building.... bit confused by the date though. Doesn't that say 1694 on the plaque? davids · 2010-07-19: 12:15

Such a nice picture. If you didn't say it here, how could we have guessed it's that old? blu06 · 2010-07-19: 12:36

Really beautiful post.. its great what we sometimes find close to us when we are not really looking.. MsCumberdale · 2010-07-19: 12:46

Very beautiful shot. boszorka65 · 2010-07-19: 13:49

terrific post :-) ????? · 2010-07-19: 16:21

simply beautiful! ????? · 2010-07-20: 00:31

What a lovely post!!! LAZYWASP · 2010-07-20: 03:28

Beautiful place, Helen! I love #1! Najeli · 2010-07-20: 10:14

Nice place and good job in # 1. Gh · 2010-07-24: 04:32

Beautiful! Wasichseh · 2010-07-25: 15:12

I love the architecture! They don't make structures like that anymore. Too bad. Great angle in 1. SunflowerGirl · 2010-08-03: 23:13

Tagged: hospital somerset architecture hungerford froxfield almshouse