Bristol’s Almshouses Through The Centuries

Bristol has been called “a City of Churches and Charities” and its surviving almshouses bear witness to the fact.

Between 1480 and 1660 the sums endowed to charity by Bristol merchants were second only to London.

Urban growth in Bristol in the late 12th and 13th centuries led to various social problems, particularly how to care for the growing number of poor and sick.

By 1230, six hospitals had been founded on the outskirts of the city, almshouse wholly on land owned by the Berkeley family.

Hospitals then were medieval guest houses, usually established by the aristocracy of the Church, where poor travellers, as well as those in need, could find shelter and food. They were the forerunner of what we now call almshouses.

Bristol’s earliest almshouse was founded in 1292 when Simon Burton, a merchant and five times Lord Mayor, created an almshouse in Long Row, between St Thomas Street and Temple Street. The almshouse was rebuilt twice, until the final Georgian building was destroyed in the Blitz.

During the course of the 14th century Bristol became virtually a self-governing city, ruled by her merchants. They became the city’s benefactors, providing practical charity for those in need.

In the 700 years between 1292 and 1891, when Lady Haberfield’s almshouse was completed in Hotwell Road, 35 almshouses were established in the city of Bristol.

Interestingly, following the endowment of Temple Hospital by Dr Thomas White in 1613, no further almshouses were established for over 250 years, until 1879, when Bengough’s House was opened in Horfield Road. Although the number of active almshouses is now considerably reduced, they still play a vital role in providing accommodation for older people.

Many of the almshouses have long disappeared and in some cases we are even uncertain about their location.

Most Bristolians are familiar with some of the almshouses situated close to the city centre. In particular, passers-by often stop to admire Foster’s Almshouse, at the top of Christmas Steps, which has a chapel with a unique dedication to the Three Kings of Cologne, the biblical Wise Men.

It was built between 1481 and 1483 by John Foster, a salt merchant, who served as Sheriff of Bristol in 1474, Mayor in 1481 and MP in 1489. His house still stands in Small Street.

When Foster’s was established, all of the residents had to be English and none were to be under the age of 50 years, or married.

Dr George Owen, physician to Henry VIII, increased the endowment in 1553, providing accommodation for an additional 10 “poor persons”

Foster’s almshouse is the only late medieval charitable institution that can be examined in detail, because one of his executors, John Walshe, illegally sold property for his own benefit.

The reparations were worth less than the property embezzled, and the almshouse would have foundered but for the additional support provided by the other executor, John Esterfield. He purchased the land on which the chapel and almshouse stood, made various bequests, and left behind a thorough description of the almshouse to avoid any future irregularities.

The almshouse was rebuilt a number of times over the centuries and the present building dates back to the period 1861-1882/3. Architects Foster and Woods designed it in the style know as Burgundian Gothic, and Latimer’s Annals described it as “praiseworthy, in spite of some meretricious details of a continental character”

This almshouse has recently been sold as it is no longer appropriate accommodation for older people. The new John Foster’s almshouse is being built in Henbury.

Bristol Charities (formerly Bristol Municipal Charities) has been managing a number of almshouses since its creation in 1835, the oldest of which is situated in Old Market Street.

Barstaple Almshouse, also known as Trinity Hospital South or the Dial Almshouse, was founded by John Barstaple, on the south side of Lawford’s Gate, in 1395. John Barstaple was a former Bailiff (1379), Sheriff (1389) and three times Mayor of Bristol.

In 1399 Barstaple obtained a letter from Pope Boniface IX banning anyone from interfering with the execution of his will under pain of excommunication. This is an interesting example of the steps taken by benefactors to protect their foundations.

In the Chapel, which has been rebuilt three times, lie the memorial brasses to John and his wife Isabel.

The present almshouse was rebuilt in 1857-8 and further additions were made throughout the latter half of the 19th century, culminating in the re-erection of the chapel in 1882. It currently provides accommodation for 30 residents.

In 1916, C R Perrett set up a housing charity, Perrett Homes, with property which he owned in Stanley Hill and Totterdown.

After his death Bristol Charities managed the charity, but it was not possible to maintain the home from rental income alone, and most tenants were transferred to Trinity Hospital Almshouse in the 30’s.

St Raphael’s, a former almshouse in Cumberland Road founded by Canon Miles in 1859 and presented to Bristol Charities, was used to house tenants from Perrett Homes and was renamed Perrett’s Almshouse.

It provided accommodation for five residents but due to the cost of maintenance, it was closed and demolished in 1969.

The proceeds from the sale of Stanley Hill and St Raphael’s were used to construct Perrett House, the sheltered housing scheme in Redcross Street, which provides 30 self-contained flats.

Another example of the way in which the trustees of almshouse have sought to meet modern demands is the Bristol and Anchor Almshouse Charity development in Stretford Road, Whitehall.

This new almshouse charity was formed in 1999, following the merger of a number of almshouse charities.

The proceeds of the sale of the old almshouse buildings, together with a donation from the Anchor Society, one of the Colston societies, allowed the trustees to build 14 new flats and renovate eight existing cottages.

Almshouses have survived and changed over their first thousand years of existence.

Organisations such as Bristol Charities, actively manage existing almshouses, but they also seek to meet the needs of older people in Bristol in the 21st century.

With plans to build a 70 flat very sheltered housing scheme in Bedminster, the almshouse tradition is not only being maintained, but is being developed to provide the quality of accommodation that older people deserve in the future.