Newbury's Almshouses (revised and updated)

                                                                            St Bartholomew's Hospital

I thought it would be interesting to do an up to date blog of Newbury's numerous almshouses. So far as I am aware the town has the largest number of almshouses of any town in the country.  Stamford would probably be the next highest.  West Berkshire Museum published a book on The Almshouses of Newbury but it seems to be out of print. A useful Timeline of Newbury Almshouses derived from the book can be found on the website of a modern Almhouse charity, the Charity of Mrs Mable Luke founded in 1928.

But what are Almshouses? They grew out of religious foundations, often called hospitals, which provided for the poor, the sick and also pilgrims. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, almshouses were established funded by well-to-do benefactors to provide housing for the poor and needy. There were often eligibility criteria: age, health, living in the locality (often for a specified time), former members of trades and industries. And almshouses were not all secular: many would have a chapel.

I started at St Bartholomew's Hospital in Argyle St. It is an almshouse originally founded in the 12th century, but whose current buildings date from 1698. It looks a little worse for wear and older photos show a clock above the stone plaque announcing its name.

Carrying on along Argyle St you come to the Essex Wynter Almshouses. Originally a farm, they became the Phillip Jemmet almshouses in 1670 (and his initials can be seen over the door) and were reconstructed by Dr Essex Winter (having become derelict) in 1926. 

At the end of the road I turned left to pass the Upper Raymond Almshouses of 1826. They consist of a plain brick terrace, but with dramatically large chimneys, gothick windows and a curious shallow stone arch stuck on to the centre of the block. There are a couple of modern (1970) almshouses to the left, out of shot.

I turned right into Newtown Road for a few hundred yards to reach the Newbury Church and Almshouse Charity (described by Pevsner as Child's Almshouses). It is a pleasant U-shaped group dated 1879 and renovated in 1982.

 

I doubled back along Newtown Road to see the very plain Lower Raymond Almshouses, bearing the date 1796. Another range at right angles to this one was destroyed in by bombing 1943.

I carried on along Bartholomew Street to reach St Nicholas church and then cross the bridge and turning left down a narrow alley to Northcroft Lane where a splendid former almshouse can be found. There is a large white plaque over the doorway, but unfortunately it is almost impossible to read. It is just possible to read the foundation date: 1824.

Retracing your steps and turning right at the bridge brings you to West Mills. This area has several buildings which were once small Almshouses: the Hunt Almshouses at number 11 (1729, rebuilt 1817), Coxedd's Almshouses (1690) at number 15 and Pearce's Almshouses (1694) at number 18.

South of West Mills and off Kennet Road are Kimber's Almshouses (1939) very plain and built of chunky brick. They were originally founded in 1795 in Cheap Street.

 

 

I went along Kennet Road then Craven Road where some houses on the left had the classic almshouse appearance, albeit plainer and more modern. I can't find any reference to them in the Timeline of Newbury Almshouses.

 

The left into Rockingham Road to reach Enborne Road. Tucked away off to the right are the delightful Coxedd and Pearce's Almhouses. They are dated 1884 - although the beautiful sunflower motif might make you think they were a little later - and were built to replaced two of the small almshouses in New Mills referred to earlier. This is a bit out on a limb but you are still only 10 minutes from the station or 15 from the town centre going back along Enborne Road.

A footnote on the Charity of Mrs Mabel Luke: it is still involved in building new almshouses. A devlopment of flats has recently been completed in the centre of Newbury. It may lack the architectural features I so like, but it is wonderful that almshouse charities are still producing what we would now call social housing.

 

 

Almshouses of Taunton and South Somerset

The Taunton Heritage Trust  is rather like the The Exeter Homes Trust in that it covers several discrete almshouse buildings. The first and most impressive is Gray's Almshouses. They were founded in 1635 by the wealthy cloth-merchant Robert Gray, whose monument survives in the Church of St Mary Magdalene. The building is one of the oldest surviving in Taunton and is one of the earliest brick buildings in the county (from Wikipedia). 

 

Then we have the impressive Huish Homes. They are located in a  Grade II listed building, built in 1868, that provides four flats, a laundry room and a communal garden. The offices of the Trust are also there. 

The buildings of Leycroft Close in Hamilton Road were built in 1931 and consist of 328 flats.

The St James's flats, dating from 1845, consist of eight flats with a shared garden.

Finally, the Bernard Taylor homes date from1984. The accommodation is intended for single occupancy, but there is a large communal area. 

The remaining Almshouses are the St Margaret's Almshouses. They began as a leper hospital - or Leprosaria - in the 12th century where diseased locals were isolated. The building is said to have featured secret underground tunnels to transport the dead to a nearby cemetery.  The almshouses are now privately owned.

 

 Finally, I discovered a relocated almshouse preserved by Taunton Castle in the Museum of Somerset .

 

 To the south of Taunton there are Staple Fitzpaine with Portman's Almshouses.

These almshouses were founded by Sir William Portman and were restored in 1970.

To the east is the village of East Coker, famous for T S Eliot's celebrated poem. They were originally built in 1640 for 11 women and a man, and are still in use.  A plaque in front of a large tree marks the site of a "plague pit", where 70 villagers were buried in 1645.

Nearby is the village of Bishops Lydeard. The almshouses in the high street were originally built in 1616 by Sir Richard Grobham.  They were restored in 1854 and again in the mid 20th century.

 

Finally, there are Harvey's Almshouses. These almshouses were founded by an Exeter merchant called Richard Harvey in 1663.  He was born in Chard.  The original almshouses were demolished in the 19th century and replaced by the present building in 1841-42.

Almshouses of Tiverton and East Devon

We begin in Wellbrooke Street in Tiverton where there are Waldron's Almshouses with their adjoining chapel. They date from 1590 and were restored in 1987 (the chapel in 1990). The founder, Thomas Waldron, was a merchant. This area of the town, West Exe, was a centre for weaving and spinning from the early 16th century.

We continues across the Exe and left into St Peter's Street to visit Slee's almshouses, founded by George Slee in 1610 for six single women. The first floor gallery was originally open.

On the left of the almshouses is the Great House of St George, constructed 1603-14 for George Slee apparently after a substantial fire of 1598 which destroyed much of the town.

There are also former almshouses in Barrington St. The plaque reveals that this was "Blagdon's Charity. Destroyed by Fire and rebuilt 1833."

The final main sight, further down Gold St was Greenway's Almshouses, which like Waldron's have an attached chapel. They were founded in 1529. The stonework seems to have been renovated quite recently.There are two further parallel ranges behind dating from 1839 and 1889.

To the east of Tiverton is the Cullompton United Charity who manage a total of 9 Almshouses in the Parish of Cullompton. Below are  a pair of red brick houses known as Grants Homes. 

The Higher Street Almshouses consist of six one-bedroom terraced houses.

 

And the final one is a single-person bungalow: Weaver Wood,  

In Honiton, to the south, there seem to be only unclear traces of the St Margaret's almshouses,  Originally it was a leper hospital some distance from the town centre, the cottages were rebuilt as almshouses in the 16th century and then gothicised in the 19th century, presumably as a private house.

 

Almhouses of Exeter 2: The Exeter Homes Trust

The impressive Exeter Homes Trust is one of the largest Almshouse charities in the country. The Charity owns and manages 143 almshouses in 8 locations throughout the city of Exeter. They range from the Victorian period into Edwardian and on to the present day.

 

 Magdalen Cottages, 19th century, founded 1863

 

Liberty Dole Cottages, 19th century

 

Atwill Palmer, 19th century

Grendon Road, 19th century

North Park, 20th century

Fair Park, 20th century

 

Livery Dole Flats (1980s)

 

Culverland Road (contemporary)

Almshouses of Exeter Part 1

Starting from the Cathedral it is a short walk to Magdalen Street to see Wynard's Almshouses. They date from 1453, but seem to have been rebuilt in 1863 (Pevsner). They make a handsome group. A more detailed account can be found in the Exeter Memories website.

Catherine Street is the the area which suffered the most bomb damage in the second world war. On the right are the ruins of St Catherine's Almshouses (1458) together with St Catherine's Chapel and Canon's house.

                                    

In Mount Dinham, also near the centre, are the Mount Dinham Cottages. In 2012 the Mount Dinham Cottage Trust signed a 125 year lease to secure the continuity of the Almshouses which were renovated in 2015.

 

Flaye's Almshouses which can be found on Pinhoe Road in the North East of the City are managed by the Exeter Homes Trust. There are twelve properties: 8 one bedroom flats, generally occupied by single people, and 4 two-bedroom houses.

 

 In the Pennsylvania area on the west side of the city are the lively Licenced Victuallers' Almshouses built in 1872 by A H Wills.

 

In St. Sidwell’s on the fork between Old Tiverton Road and Blackboy Road is a medieval Chapel and adjacent Almshouses (photo below) beside the St. Anne’s Orthodox Church. Pevsner says that the 16th century Almshouses were restored in 1838; two Tudor style houses were added later by W D Caroe. 

    

 

Bamburgh Castle

 Bamburgh Castle, from the land side

Above is the first, very imposing, sight you get of Bamburgh Castle if you are coming from the North as we were.

We parked in the car park by the castle and looked out to sea to be greeted by the Farn Islands. It is a group of 28 islands which are of great interest for birders (who will hope to see Puffin, Eider, Razorbill, Guillemot, Shag, Kittiwake and Fulmar). The island you can see is Inner Farn and the two buildings which can be made out are the lighthouse (on the right) and a tower. What this low angle lost was the long sandy beach, where a ceaseless promenade of people were striding out.

We entered the castle through a Gate House as you might expect and emerged into a large open area with an imposing Keep to the right.

 

We quickly discovered some key facts about Bamburgh. The rocky outcrop was fortified from as early as 500 AD. The Normans built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present one. After a revolt in 1095 supported by the castle's owner, it became the property of the king. In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery. By the early 1600s, Bamburgh had become ruinous and in private hands, those of the local Forster family. It later became a hospital and a school, before being bought in 1894 by the wealthy local industrialist, Lord Armstrong (of Cragside), who began the work of restoration but died before it was completed. His descendants carried on his work and remain the castle's owners.

This is the range of buildings to the left of the Keep. A miscellany of styles is visible.

Entering the door on the left you are soon ushered into the Great Hall, a fine, late Victorian building.

In the next room I was delighted by this lovely pattern.

Now into the Keep. The upstairs rooms don't seem very Norman, bit when you get to the undercroft you gain a very strong sense of the weight bearing down on you.

I was excited by my first sighting of Bamburgh Castle, but by the end I felt a bit disappointed. The Keep is a wonderful sight from the outside, and the Great Hall was imposing, but much of the interior and most of the exterior was not very interesting.

To complete our visit we had a short wander round the village of about 500 people. I was delighted to spot some former almshouses (dating from 1807). The nearest ones remain their character, but the two furthest are now used as shops and have lost theirs.

More or less opposite is the former water pump.