Almshouses by Brian Bailey

Hospital of St Cross, Winchester - said to be the oldest almshouse still in use

 I have long had an interest in almshouses, quaint and charming buildings which are usually instantly recognisable as such whether they be ancient foundations or Georgian or Victorian ones. According to the National Association of Almshouses there are about 2,600 groups of almshouses around the country, housing about 36,000 old people. They are run now by 1,800 separate charities.

I was therefore delighted to acquire this book from my bookseller friend, Malcolm. It claims to be the first comprehensive historical survey of almshouses. Its treatment is relentlessly sequential, but a general picture of the development of almshouses does emerge quite clearly.

The earliest almshouses were closely linked with the Church, especially in cathedral cities, and were variously called hospital (as distinct from infirmary, which was the name used then for a building in which the sick were treated), lazar houses (for the isolation of lepers) and bede-houses. The last were founded by individual benefactors in the expectation that the residents would spend their time time in prayer (bede means prayer) for the souls of the benefactors.

The Black Death in 1348-9 killed about a third of the population. It resulted in arable land being turned to pasture and an influx of people from rural areas to the towns. Almshouse building stopped for a while, but resumed later in the century with well-endowed foundations being established by rich men fearing for the future of their souls.

All this changed with Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. There were no new foundations for another 30 years and many existing ones which were associated with monasteries or religious guilds were closed down or sold off. The immediate result was to increase the number of homeless poor people and the state responded with draconian laws against vagrancy.

New almshouse foundations started again under Elizabeth I and increased under the Stuarts, now increasingly funded by merchants and tradesmen. The 18th century saw the advent of the Poor Law, with parishes having the power to raise taxes to provide poor relief.

 Allnutt's Hospital, Goring Heath, Oxfordshire, 1724

 The 18th century saw scattered new developments, usually in a neo-classical style featuring a central pediment, sometimes founded by the rich and famous such as Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough at St Albans and other times by prosperous businessmen. This continued into the 19th century where almshouse foundation went alongside the Church of England's revival. A neo-Tudor style was now favoured. Local industrialists were often donors.

Robert Palmer Cottages, Sonning, Berkshire, 1850

Since then there have been many refurbishments, a depressing number of demolitions in the dark years of the 1960s and 1970s and some, often architecturally undistinguished, new building.

The account is unremittingly sequential, some chapters consisting of little more than a series of foundations in different parts of the country. It is a bit frustrating that it is often hard to tell whether interesting-sounding buildings still exist or not. However, the book is strong in linking the foundation of almshouses to the prevailing social and economic conditions of each period and especially to attitudes towards the poor, and to religious beliefs.

There are lots of interesting photos (although not of high quality) and drawings which identify lots of interesting buildings to see. Perhaps my greatest disappointment is that there is little in the way of architectural history, although there are some judgements about the architectural merit of individual buildings. It is fairly obvious that almshouses tend to have common features: it would have added enormously to this book to have had an account of them, the reasons for them and perhaps some sort of typology of the different forms almshouses take.