Almshouse Arcade

Tucked just off Eastgate Square on The Hornet, the Almshouse Arcade has been home to Chichester's independent traders for over forty years. The building itself is far older: No. 19 has stood here since 1802, rebuilt thanks to a bequest from Martha Dear, whose 1807 will left £1,000 to restore the parish almshouses. For more than 150 years it offered modest, dignified housing to elderly local women, and was known affectionately as the “Old Dears' Almshouses”.

Today twelve small retail units fill the building, and the mix is unlike anywhere else in the city — vintage and revival clothing, antiques and architectural salvage, crystals, rare vinyl and rock memorabilia, gentlemen's barbers, and a much-loved alterations service. It's a place for browsing rather than a quick errand, and a five-minute walk from the city centre.