The Southwell Buildings, English Street, Downpatrick, (originally known as the Almshouses and Blue Schools), were built by the Edward Southwell in 1733 to a design by the Dublin architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce who also designed the Parliament Buildings in College Green. They provided almshouses for six old men and six old women as well as schools for ten poor boys and ten poor girls. The schools survived until 1888 when they were taken over by the Board of Education.