An almshouse is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of previous employment, or their widows, and at elderly people who could no longer pay rent, and are generally maintained by a charity or the trustees of a bequest. Almshouses were originally formed as extensions of the church system and were later adapted by local officials and authorities.
Lichfield District is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district is named after its largest settlement, the city of Lichfield, which is where the district council is based. The district also contains the towns of Burntwood and Fazeley, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
Buntingford Almshouses is a grade II* listed building on the High street of the Hertfordshire town of Buntingford. The building was erected in 1684 by the mathematician and astronomer Bishop Seth Ward who was born in the town. The architect was probably the celebrated scientist and architect, Robert Hooke.
Eastbridge Hospital, also known as The Hospital of Saint Thomas Becket the Martyr, is a Hospital in the old sense of the word short for Hospitality and was founded in the 12th century in Canterbury, England, to provide overnight accommodation for poor pilgrims who were travelling to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. It is now one of the ten almshouses still providing accommodation for elderly citizens of Canterbury and is a grade I listed building.
Sackville College is a Jacobean almshouse in town of East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.
Gray's Almshouses is a terrace of almshouses in Taunton, Somerset, England, 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. The Almshouses were designed to provide accommodation for six men and ten women and for a reader who was to act as chaplain and schoolmaster. It is a Grade I listed building as designated by English Heritage. Following renovation in the late twentieth century it now comprises sheltered accommodation of nine flats for the elderly.
Sexey's Hospital in Bruton, Somerset, England was built around 1630 as almshouses. The West Wing and chapel have been designated as a Grade I listed building. The East Wing and gateway are grade II listed.
Plumptre Hospital was a charity in Nottingham providing almshouse accommodation for 599 years from 1392 to 1991.
Wright's Almshouses is a terrace of six former almshouses now located on Beam Street in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The building was originally erected at the junction of Hospital Street and London Road in 1638 by Edmund Wright, Lord Mayor of London in 1640–41, and is listed at grade II*. The low red-brick terrace has stone dressings and a central stone panel with arms. The adjacent stone archway of 1667, which Nikolaus Pevsner describes as the "best" feature of the almshouses, is also listed separately at grade II*, together with its associated wall.
The Hospital of St John Baptist without the Barrs is a building with an adjacent chapel in the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Browne's Hospital is a medieval almshouse in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It was founded in 1485 by wealthy wool merchant William Browne to provide a home and a house of prayer for twelve poor men and two poor women.
Wandesford House is an eighteenth-century almshouse in the centre of York, England, one of twelve still-functioning almshouses in the city, and the oldest still in its original building. Built in 1739 and opened in 1743, the house is an important example of the classical style in the city. Like many historic almshouses, it was referred to as a hospital before that term became chiefly associated with medical establishments.
Hickey's Almshouses are almshouses between Sheen Road and St Mary's Grove in Richmond, London.
The Powis Almshouses are a block of almshouses in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, at the junction of Church Street and Bridge Street. The building dates from about 1721, and was constructed as a result of a bequest from Thomas Powis, a vintner who was probably born in the town. The almshouse is a Grade II* listed building.
Richard Watts Charities incorporate Richard Watts Charity set up in the will of Richard Watts in 1579, as well as several other charities in Rochester, Medway. The will originally provided for an almshouse in Rochester High Street: The Poor Travellers House; over time, the money later provided for almshouses in Maidstone Road, along with other accommodation in Rochester, totalling 66 self-contained flats. Other charities absorbed by the Richard Watts Charity include St Catherine's Hospital founded under the Charity of Symond Potyn in 1315.
Bishop Duppa's Almshouses, Richmond are Grade II listed almshouses in Richmond, London. They were founded by Brian Duppa, Bishop of Winchester, in 1661 to house ten unmarried women aged over 50.
God's House Hospital, also known as the Hospital of St. Julian or Domus Dei is a refuge for poor travellers in Southampton, England. Much of the complex has now been destroyed, with only four buildings remaining: the gatehouse, God's House Tower, a grade I listed scheduled ancient monument; and the chapel, St. Julien's Church, a grade I listed building; and two accommodation blocks dating from the 19th century.
The Percy and Wagner Almshouses are a group of 12 almshouses in the inner-city Hanover area of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The first six date from 1795 and are among the few pre-19th-century buildings left in the city. Six more were added in a matching style in 1859. They are the only surviving almshouses in Brighton and have been listed at Grade II for their architectural and historical importance.
