Southwark’s almshouses: a legacy built to shelter
“It’s peaceful here,” Roger says, crouched among a bed of iridescent roses in the garden at Hopton’s Almshouses.
The garden is meticulously kept, blooming with a magnificent variety of colours and forms.
Roger was a painter and taught at the Chelsea College of Art. He didn’t plan to end up at an almshouse. But after a breakup and three years spent searching for housing, he moved in aged 69.
Now 78, he tends the shared garden beneath Blackfriars’ unblinking glass towers, a quiet oasis in the centre of a small, enduring community.
“I thought I’d get back to painting,” he says, “but it was the garden that took hold.”
What Roger has found at Hopton’s is rooted in a centuries-old tradition of shelter in Southwark.
Built in the mid-18th century for “poor and decaying men of the parish,” Hopton’s Almshouses is one of London’s oldest. Today, its cottages house low-income Londoners over 65.
Its courtyard is so quiet and pristine that tourists sometimes mistake it for a museum.
Roger tends the garden at Hopton’s; part of Southwark’s almshouses, which continue to offer older residents a place to live with dignity and connection.
A legacy of care that still lives on Before cranes and towers reshaped the skyline, Southwark dotted its landscape with almshouses, charitable homes for the elderly and working poor.
They provided dignified shelter for tradespeople—bakers, fishmongers, publicans, priests—all funded by local benefactors.
In Southwark, from 1717, the Edward Edwards Charity supported “poor decayed housekeepers and widows,” while the Licensed Victuallers’ Almshouses on Old Kent Road housed retired pub landlords, for example.
The model was clear: the wealthy endowed property or funds; the poor received housing, safety, and community.
That mission continues today, even if few understand what almshouses are anymore.
While many almshouses still prioritise older people, eligibility has broadened in recent years. Some now welcome younger residents, single parents, and others facing local housing pressures.
The almshouse: a social housing model still home to over 36,000 Britons Almshouses are more than remnants of a bygone age. They remain a lifeline for over 36,000 people across the UK, many facing the sharp edges of poverty, homelessness, or isolation.
“They’re not just heritage buildings,” says Julian Marczak, Head of Member Services at the Almshouse Association.
“They represent a living social model—one that actually works.”
Most are built around a shared courtyard, a design that encourages connection and mutual care.
“The layout is key,” Marczak tells me. “As people get older and become vulnerable to illnesses or falls, they have peace of mind knowing help is there if needed. It’s independent living—within a community.”
Because almshouse charities are independent, they can adapt quickly to local needs.
A recent study by Bayes Business School found that almshouse residents not only report stronger community ties but live longer than people in comparable housing.
The need is pressing. Up to 12% of rough sleepers are over the age of 55. In 2018, more than 2,500 people aged over 60 were officially homeless; a number that was expected to double by 2025.
“We had someone in her nineties who was sofa surfing,” Marczak recalls. “People simply don’t have the money. They have nowhere else to go.”
Though not designed as shelters, almshouses offer stability and dignity when other options vanish.
Appleby Blue: A modern evolution In 2023, Southwark’s almshouse tradition took a contemporary turn with the opening of Appleby Blue in Bermondsey.
Developed by United St Saviour’s Charity in partnership with Southwark Council and a private developer, the £25 million site offers 57 flats for residents over 65.
Funded largely via a Section 106 agreement—requiring developers to provide affordable housing—the project includes a rooftop garden, cooking school, and community centre open to the public.
When I visited, I was struck by the light that fills the communal space, almost inviting residents to come together. The space didn’t feel typical of an elderly population, but rather one filled with quiet energy.
“When onboarding, we wanted a mix of people who need support, those who can offer it, and those who just want to belong,” says Jude Leighton, Head of Housing at United St Saviour’s.
Leighton explained that there’s no formal care at Appleby Blue, but neighbours watch for signs, like curtains not drawn or lights left off. It’s not clinical, but communal.
Appleby Blue isn’t the only modernisation. A growing number of almshouse charities now pursue Passive House standards for sustainability.
“These aren’t just charming old cottages tucked away in villages anymore,” says Marczak. “They’re part of the future of charitable housing.”
He notes that the strong demand for almshouses reflects their growing importance.
Southwark’s almshouses combine the original almshouse model with modernity. The goal is to bolster self-sufficiency while offering support and a network.
A proven model, often overlooked Despite their success, almshouses remain largely absent from mainstream housing policy.
Many are run by small charities, some managing fewer than ten homes, yet they face regulations built for much larger providers. Bureaucracy often sidelines this proven model, and without proper support, it risks quietly disappearing.
As the UK’s ageing population grows, so does the urgency. The number of over-85s in the UK is set to double from 1.6 million in 2018 to 3 million by 2043.
One social policy writer said: “The great issue for public policy now is to choose whether to regard the growing population of older people in the UK as a medical/custodial ‘problem’ or as a civic issue —how we keep older people integrated into the life of the community.”
The almshouse model offers a compelling answer. It saves the state an estimated £43 million a year in reduced health and social care costs, while providing homes rooted in community rather than institutional care.
Almshouses: defying solitude with community and care
When housing often feels transactional, and ageing risks slipping into solitude, almshouses stand apart. They offer an anchor against loneliness, a buffer against the uncertainty that can come with age, a steadying presence in an increasingly precarious world.
They are not just places to sleep, but spaces shaped by dignity, community, and the essential human need to belong.
In a time marked by disconnection, they remind us of something elemental: housing is about people, not just walls and roofs.
Today, Southwark’s almshouses blend heritage with modern care, offering beauty, belonging, and community in later life.
The words from the Almshouse Association’s CEO hold weight: “At a time when isolation and loneliness are reaching epidemic levels, if housing were designed to truly meet today’s social needs, it would reflect everything almshouses have long embodied.”
These homes grow from care, continuity, and a conviction that no one should face later life alone.
For Roger, as for so many in almshouses, the promise isn’t just a place to live but that there’s still beauty and belonging to be found in age.
All images: credit Lucy Sherry