They are the only surviving almshouses in Brighton and have been listed at Grade II for their architectural and historical importance.

[1] No more than tiny cottages, the almshouses were intended for poor widows who lived within the parish of Brighton.

[2] It was crossed by an ancient west-east trackway which by the end of the 18th century was used by visitors walking to the new racecourse on Whitehawk Hill.

[6] The almshouses originally "stood in open country"[8] opposite one corner of The Level, a large area of common land used for fairs and recreational activities.

[9] An 1807 watercolor shows the six original houses surrounded by a low stone wall with fields on all sides.

Hilly Laine (the site of the future Hanover and Elm Grove residential areas) rises behind the buildings.

The new houses were built in memory of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol, who died in 1859, and were paid for by Vicar of Brighton Henry Michell Wagner and his sister Mary.

[7] He was the only Brighton-born resident:[10] the other nine occupants of the six houses were from a wide range of counties across southern and western England.

[10] By the time of the United Kingdom Census 1891, all twelve houses had residents; they were split equally between unmarried women and widows, and some still had more than one occupant.

[12] English Heritage defines Grade II-listed buildings as "nationally important and of special interest".

[5] In Hove, the Williamson Cottage Homes on Portland Road were still used as almshouses until 1985, but they became empty in that year and were taken over by squatters.

[17][18] The almshouses are simple, "plain"[1] two-storey cottages of yellow stock brick laid in the Flemish bond pattern.

At parapet level in the centre of the terrace is an inscription reading "THESE ALMS HOUSES were erected and endowed at the request of the late PHILADELPHIA and DOROTHY PERCY A D 1795".

[12] As a non-ecclesiastical Gothic-style building, the Percy and Wagner Almshouses are almost unique in Brighton: the remnants of Gothic House in Western Road (now part of a shop) by Amon Henry Wilds and Wykeham Terrace (attributed to the same architect) near St Nicholas' Church are the only other examples.