Builders have started work on a £1.3m project to build nine new almshouses in Colchester.
The trustees of Winnocks and Kendalls Almshouse Charity welcomed guests and residents to a celebration to mark the start of work at its site in Military Road.
Colchester MP Will Quince MP cut the first sod with chairman of trustees John Enfield, architect, Adam Edwards of Purcell and Stuart, Colchester and Stuart Boardley, director of Brooks & Wood Ltd which is carrying out the construction.
The build is due for completion in August 2019. The properties the buildings will replace were more than 80 years old and had been vacant for the past four years due to damp and structural problems. Sitting alongside a 1678 Grade 1 listed terrace built in 1678, the new build of bungalows and flats will house at least nine people over the age of 60 from the Colchester area.
Mr Enfield thanked all those involved in the project and in particular Colchester Borough Council.
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