A MILLION-pound scheme to modernise 350-year-old grade II-listed almshouses in a picture-postcard village has been completed.

The Lady Lumley’s Almshouse Trust, in partnership with housing association Broadacres and its developing partner Southdale, has spent the past 12 months on the project at Thornton Dale, near Pickering.

A total of £500,000 was borrowed by the trust from the Charity Bank to help fund the refurbishment, with a further £400,000 coming from the Homes and Communities Agency. The trust itself funded the remaining balance.

Work on the scheme began in December last year, following a lengthy consultation process with residents living in the 12 almshouses, which were built as a gift to the village in 1658 from Viscountess Elizabeth Lumley, who owned much of the land in the area.

Because of their age, the one-bedroom terraced homes, located in the centre of the village, were in need of a full modernisation, including new bathrooms, kitchens, heating, rewiring and insulation.

A large extension has also been added to the rear. Living rooms have been moved from the front to the back of the building, so residents look out onto their own gardens.

During the work, residents had to be temporarily re-located to cottages at the Thornton-le-Dale Care and Retirement Park in Hurrell Lane.

Broadacres’ development manager Fiona Coleman said: “Refurbishing a grade II-listed building like this has been complex and required a lot of planning, but we believe the completed scheme has remained very sympathetic to the historic nature of the almshouses.”