HRH The Princess Royal opened twelve new almshouses at the Cutbush & Corrall Charity in College Road, Maidstone. She was accompanied by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, the Lady Colgrain.

HRH, escorted by the Clerk & Chief Officer of the Cutbush & Corrall Charity, Liz Abi-Aad, visited residents in their homes and met with invited guests as they enjoyed lunch including local dignitaries, residents, trustees, staff and contractors who had worked on the project.

Six existing almshouses originally built in the 1920s were converted into twelve flats when trustees realised the houses were too big, too costly to run and too difficult for individuals with reduced mobility to negotiate.  The new one-bedroom flats provide compact, high-quality, affordable accommodation suitable for the Charity’s beneficiaries.

HRH unveiled a plaque to commemorate the event and presented Caroline Highwood and Sue Darbyshire, both trustees of the charity, with long service awards.

The Charity welcomes applications from local people who meet the criteria for living in an almshouse. Please contact 01622 765612 for further information.

Further reading:

• Princess Anne opens new homes at Cutbush and Corrall almshouses in Maidstone (kentonline.co.uk)
• Clague Architects – Listed almshouse project for Cutbush and Corrall
• Great British Life – Almshouses in Kent – ancient and modern

posted 26 October 2023

The Mills Charity along with many other properties in the town of Framlingham, Suffolk have been affected by flooding due to Storm Babet.

Staff and trustees of the The Mills Charity were quick to help clean up as soon as the flooding receded.

The Charity has four short term properties all of which have extensive flooding. Unfortunately, one of these properties affected by the devastating floods was Tomb House and the Tomb of Thomas Mills, the Charity’s founder.

Fortunately, the flooding did not affect any of our residents in any of their almshouses, although an evacuation procedure was in place as water levels continued to rise.

In the late 1600s Thomas Mills lived and worked in Framlingham. He was a trained wheelwright, a timber merchant and he was a dissenting Baptist. He was a wealthy man inheriting a timber importing business in Wapping from his wife. Thomas also owned land in Dallinghoo, Dennington, Parham, Ufford, Pettistree, Wickham Market and Framlingham.

When in Framlingham he and his wife would stay in Tomb House. In secret, Thomas would meet fellow Nonconformists at Lincoln’s Barn, which has conveniently discrete and away from prying eyes. Thomas Mills died in 1703 and being a dissenter he was not offered an Anglican burial in the churchyard; he was buried in a tomb in his garden. His trusted servant William Mayhew is also buried in this tomb. Thomas left his fortune for good causes in Framlingham and other locations where he had had business interests. His will ordered the building of almshouses for the elderly poor which still stand.

taken from Mills Charity website – The Mills Charity

posted 25 October 2023

In his third almshouse charity visit of the month, Uxbridge United Welfare Trust welcomes HRH The Duke of Gloucester

After days of non-stop rain, on Friday 20 October 2023 the almshouses in Uxbridge were blessed with blue skies and delighted trustees, staff and residents of Uxbridge United Welfare Trust came out to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester to the official opening of Ossulton Court.

Ossulton Court is the latest almshouse to be built by Uxbridge United Welfare Trust which has 20 almshouse apartments in the centre of Uxbridge. All are for local state pensionable aged residents who qualify for housing benefits. All the apartments at Ossulton Court offer step-free access and the wet rooms and kitchens built in these units allow all the residents who live here to remain in their homes for longer.

“All of us here at Uxbridge United Welfare Trust are incredibly proud of our new almshouse development. This is our fifth reincarnation of almshouse living in Uxbridge spanning over 300 years. Ossulton Court is a shining example of what a 21st century almshouse should be.  Safe, secure, step free access housing, for local elderly people in the centre of our town.”

Dominic Gilham, CEO for Uxbridge United Welfare Trust

The project to build Ossulton Court took just over four years from planning to completion.

During his visit, His Royal Highness engaged with residents, staff, and trustees, and was given a guided tour of the stunning new almshouse development, as well as a beautiful display of apple trees that were planted during the pandemic. Each tree is dedicated to a resident and bears their names on small plaques at the base of the trees.

Resident Mrs Janet Brown welcomed His Royal Highness into her flat, where he enjoyed the view overlooking the wonderful courtyard garden, tended to by the residents.

The visit culminated in a gathering in the dining area, where His Royal Highness joined residents for a piece of cake and some enjoyable conversation. His Royal Highness also unveiled a special commemorative plaque and signed the visitor’s book.

“His Royal Highness created such a positive atmosphere during his visit, meeting all the residents and trustees. He spoke knowledgeably and enthusiastically about the almshouse model and the impact almshouses, such as Ossulton Court, have on the lives of residents. With his architectural background, the Duke noted how the new building had captured much of the heritage of the almshouse model with its wonderful courtyard and orchard.”

Nick Phillip, CEO The Almshouse Association

posted 24 October 2023

Named winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2023, the winning project revives medieval tradition of treating older people with the dignity they deserve.

The Almshouse Association was delighted to see the The John Morden Centre, specially built as a social hub where residents of Morden College Almshouses can interact and live full social lives, named the winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize. We were equally delighted to see the news picked up in a number of news outlets and publications including The Financial Times, The Guardian, BBC news and radio, The Big Issue and many architectural magazines. (see below for links)

Featured below also is one of the articles in full, as published by Building Design and written by Ben Flatman:

Mæ’s winning project revives medieval tradition of treating older people with the dignity they deserve

By Ben Flatman 20 October 2023

This Stirling Prize winner places a much-needed focus on how we house and support people later in their lives

Alex Ely references George Bernard Shaw as part-inspiration for the design of Mae’s Stirling-winning John Morden Centre in Blackheath: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” It is an implied criticism of not only how we approach ageing as a culture, but of how we accommodate our elderly population.

The John Morden Centre seeks to address this failing head-on, by creating a social hub where older people can interact and live full social lives. But it is an exception.

The sorry truth is that most recent British architecture in this sector has too often been an afterthought. Housing for the elderly is sometimes found in repurposed Victorian villas, or buildings that look depressingly like storage facilities. Rarely is it in places that look like they were designed with the necessary care and consideration for the particular needs of older people.

Mae’s building shows us that it does not need to be like this, and that the spaces we create for this demographic can be inspiring and soulful. It is also an important reminder that – if we look back a little farther – this country has a rich history of creating often very special places that offer security, support and a sense of community for this demographic.

The John Morden Centre sits within the grounds of Morden College, a charitable foundation established in 1695. The handsome main building is sometimes attributed to Wren, but was implemented by the master mason, Edward Strong.

The architecture of Mae’s building imbues the new social and gathering spaces with many of the same values that inspired the design of the original buildings. They share a sense that life is to be treasured in all its stages, and that it can and should always be lived to its full extent.

Morden College can trace its origins to the medieval alms-houses, which were Christian charitable foundations, specifically established to provide support and relief to the elderly and poor. They first appeared in England as early as the 10th century.

Residents were usually required to pray for the souls of the founders who had built and endowed the almshouses. Through their promotion of a shared, communal life, combined with what was often beautiful vernacular architecture, they fostered a powerful sense of place and togetherness.

The idea of the alms house – essentially supported communal living for the elderly – may be a thousand years old, but it remains a powerful model for how to enable older people to live with dignity, self-respect, and varying degrees of independence.

We know that loneliness and a sense of isolation can be key contributors to poor mental and physical health in later life. The John Morden Centre builds on the strengths of the alms house model, with an added focus on social interaction and engagement.

Its spine-like enclosed “colonnade” twists through the length of the building, linking a café with a variety of flexible spaces that include a theatre. The colonnade references the original Morden College’s collonaded internal courtyard. Mae’s building also explicitly references the cloisters and courtyards of those even earlier medieval antecedents.

This project comes at a crucial time, when an ageing population requires us to think ever more carefully about the implications of later life. Mae’s own recent Daventry House project, which forms part of the Church Street masterplan in Marylebone, and provides 59 supported living flats for older people, demonstrates how the practice is leading efforts in the UK to reimagine this time-tested model for a wide range of contexts.

It is wonderful to see architecture for older members of society that seeks to give its inhabitants a sense of joy. As Morden College’s CEO, David Rutherford-Jones, observes: “It will enable them to feel good about themselves and about life… residents walking into John Morden Centre find themselves in a place that recognises their importance.” article ends

Sir John Morden and the Foundation of Morden College

Sir John Morden, 1st Baronet (13 August 1623 – 6 September 1708) was a successful English merchant and philanthropist who also served briefly as an MP.

In 1695, after serving two years as Treasurer of Bromley College, a home for clergy widows, he resigned to establish, with his wife Susan – at a cost of £10,000 – his own almshouse for ‘poor Merchants…and such as have lost their Estates by accidents, dangers and perils of the seas or by any other accidents ways or means in their honest endeavours to get their living by means of Merchandizing’. Morden College was built (to a design sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, but largely carried out by Edward Strong, his master mason) on the north-east corner of the Wricklemarsh estate and was intended to house 40 single or widowed men. College trustees were drawn from the Turkey Company and since 1884 from the Aldermen of the City of London. The building was visited and written about by John Evelyn and Daniel Defoe. Evelyn’s Diary for 9 June 1695 records: “Went afterwords to see Sir Jo: Mordens Charity or Hospital on Black-heath now building for the Reliefe of Merchands that have failed, a very worthy Charitye, nobel building.”^[1]

Defoe wrote about the college in his Tour Through Great Britain, published in 1724:”It was built by Sir John Morden, a Turkey merchant of London, but who liv’d in a great house at the going off from the heath, a little south of the Hospital, on the road to Eltham. His first design, as I had it from his own mouth the year before he began to build, was to make apartments for forty decay’d merchants, to whom he resolved to allow £40 per annum each, with coals, a gown (and servants to look after their apartments) and many other conveniences so as to make their lives as comfortable as possible, and that, as they had liv’d like Gentlemen, they might dye so.”

Sir John Morden died in 1708, aged 86, and was buried in Morden College chapel crypt. Created c. 1717–1725, statues of Sir John and his wife, Lady Susan Morden, adorn the western front of the college^.  The college has since expanded several times and continues its charitable work.

Apart from the college, Sir John’s name lives on in the name of pubs on Brand Street (Greenwich) and Campshill Road (Lewisham), and local street names in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

posted 23 October 2023

Residents, staff and trustees were delighted to welcome His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester to the Bubwith site, its almshouses and chapel on 16 October 2023.

“It is such a great honour to welcome our Royal Vice Patron to one of our most valuable historic member charities. The Duke seemed genuinely impressed by the wonderful architecture that is the hallmark of the almshouse movement. Almshouses like the City of Wells Charity carry centuries of living heritage and the story of hundreds of lives having been enhanced through this close community.”

Nick Phillips, CEO of The Almshouse Association

During his visit, His Royal Highness engaged with residents, staff, and trustees, and was given a guided tour of the medieval buildings, gardens, chapel and Guildroom by Chair of Trustees Stewart Cursley and resident trustee James Fane-Gladwin.

The Duke was particularly interested in the Bubwith chapel which was built in the 15th Century and is currently subject to an exciting project to restore it into a new community space in Wells, supported by National Lottery players.

Resident Mo Joyce welcomed  him into her flat, where he enjoyed the view overlooking the walled garden. The visit culminated in a gathering in the Guildroom, where His Royal Highness joined residents for a piece of cake and some enjoyable conversation.

“It was an honour to meet His Royal Highness who was particularly interested in the chapel and its plans for the future, and we thank him for his kind visit.  I would also like to thank the staff and trustee members who organised the visit and the residents who attended on the day.”

Chair of Trustees Stewart Cursley

Many of The Duke’s Patronages are related to architecture and conservation, both areas in which The Duke remains deeply interested. He was elected a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1972 and he is President of the Scottish Society of the Architect-Artists. His fellowships include those of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

His Royal Highness is a supporter of several architectural preservation societies, including the Kensington Society and the Victorian Society, as well as the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UK National Committee.

His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester, is the Royal Vice Patron for The Almshouse Association, a membership charity that supports a network of over 1600 independent almshouse charities throughout the United Kingdom. Almshouse Association members manage more than 30,000 almshouses, providing vital housing solutions for approximately 36,000 individuals in need, contributing significantly to local community housing.

posted 19 October 2023

On Tuesday 3 October, His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester, Vice Royal Patron of The Almshouse Association, joined the trustees, founder’s family and residents at Courtauld Homes of Rest almshouses to join in their centenary celebrations

There was a buzz of excitement as guests gathered in the marquee to await His Royal Highness’s arrival. Plans had been underway for many months with trustees and residents busy making sure their almshouses and the site were in tip-top condition to receive their Royal visitor.

Upon arrival, His Royal Highness was presented by the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex, Jennifer Tolhurst to Adrian Corder-Birch, a Deputy Lieutenant and Clerk to the Trustees, who then introduced The Duke to the Mayor of Halstead, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Courtauld Homes of Rest, Anthony Shelton and Nick Phillips, the Chief Executive of The Almshouse Association.

“It was a great honour to meet His Royal Highness and to introduce the Mayor, our trustees and members of the Courtauld family to him.  As I accompanied The Duke around our almshouses, he asked questions about the history, architecture, and gardens in which he was clearly very impressed.  He was particularly interested in our residents and spoke to all of them.”

Adrian-Corder Birch, Deputy Lieutenant and Clerk to the Trustees

Many of the Duke’s Patronages are linked to architecture and conservation, areas the Duke holds great interested in so the Reading Room at Courtauld Homes of Rest were a much appreciated part of his visit. He quickly spotted the pictures and architect’s plan which adorned the walls along with the history of the Courtauld family.

After afternoon tea with the trustees, residents and other guests, George Courtauld, Vice Chairman of the Trustees thanked The Duke for his visit.  The Duke gave a warm and informed speech about the almshouse model and its value to the community which delighted all who attended. He then cut the splendid centenary cake made by Jennifer Smith and unveiled two blue plaques to commemorate distinguished members of the Courtauld family and a third plaque recording his visit. 

George Courtauld then presented The Duke with a book about the history of the Homes of Rest and other almshouses, written by Adrian Corder-Birch, especially for the centenary. 

Nick Phillips, CEO, The Almshouse Association commented, “It was a great privilege and honour to receive our Royal Vice Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, at one of our member almshouse charities. The Duke spoke knowledgably and enthusiastically about the almshouse movement and his visit and interest really gave a terrific boost the charity trustees and residents. It was a lovely day that all will remember warmly.“

“The Courtauld Homes of Rest has been a member of The Almshouse Association for several decades and to receive a visit from its Royal Vice Patron in recognition of our centenary was a great privilege.”                                   

Chairman, Mr Tony Shelton

posted 12 October 2023