The History of Newbury Almshouse Trust – Part Two!

The second part of our history looks at the aftermath of the scandal in the mid 1800s, as well as the path of modernisation for the Trust.

Very soon after the trustees started to look after the charities previously held by the Corporation of Newbury, it was clear there were financial problems. In 1865 Henry Godwin, Secretary to the Trustees, suggested selling the various agricultural land owned by the trustees around the town to fund the charities. This was followed in 1892 with more evidence that incomes from the different charities were reducing. There were suggestions to reduce admin costs, alongside renting out land.

In 1883, under the Endowed Schools Acts, St Bartholomew's Hospital and endowments (except the almshouses and chapel), Kendrick's Loan Charity and Kendrick's School were appropriated for educational purposes under the name of St Bartholomew's Hospital and the Grammar School Foundation, so they were separated from the municipal charities.  

A scheme was established in 1900, by order of the Charity Commissioners, for the remaining Municipal Charities, except Kendrick's Morning Prayer Charity, to combine under the name of the Consolidated Municipal Charities. They were placed under management of 14 trustees. In 1906 this was confirmed, as Newbury Municipal Charities was named by the Charity Commission as founded by Kendrick's bequest and endowed by Clement and Stockwell, St Bartholomew's Hospital, St Mary's Hill Almshouses, Raymond's Almshouses, Kendrick's Loan Charity and Kendrick's Morning Prayer Charity.

In 1943 St Bartholomew's New Close, built in 1810 as a further row of almshouses funded by St Bartholomew’s Hospital, was destroyed in a German bombing raid. Lower Raymond's, Upper Raymond's and St Mary's Almshouses, as well as St Bartholomew’s Hospital were all slightly damaged.

By 1946 trustees began to talk about modernisation, including wash houses, for almshouses. This modernisation also extended into how the charities were run. In 1950 the trustees stopped payments to new almspeople and began to reconsider those to existing residents in order to be able to fund improvements the almshouses needed.

Trustees agreed to take over administration of Dixon's and Deale's Charity in 1953, as the Weavers Company ceased to exist, adding another charity to the Trust. This was followed soon afterwards with the administration of Hunt's Charity in 1955. The Trustees also agreed to build new almshouses for Hunt’s, to replace the older ones. These were completed in 1956. In 1973 even more charities were added to the Trust - Miss Ayres Charity, Margaret Cross's Charity and Robinson's Charity were all transferred to the Newbury Consolidated Municipal Charities.

The old St Mary's Almshouses

Surveyors suggested selling the old St Mary's Almshouses on Cheap Street in 1965 because of the cost of further repairs, the lack of sunlight and the distance from other old people's amenities. The old building, built in 1863 and designed by J H Money, was built on the site of even older almshouses! New almshouses were built on the proceeds of selling the old site in 1973, using land on the Upper Raymond’s almshouses site to build four new modern bungalows.

The new St Mary's Almshouses

In 1986 all almshouse residents began to be charged for maintenance. This Maintenance Charge was approved by Charity Commission, as well as the amalgamation of the charities under the new name Newbury Almshouse Trust and separation of educational charities. The scheme was changed in 1992 to widen the area of benefit to include Newbury Rural District, and in 2000 the eligibility age for living in the almshouses was lowered to 55, after difficulties getting applications from people over retirement age.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our brief history of Newbury Almshouse Trust! If you have any memories or photographs of our almshouses, we'd love to see them! Contact us here.