ALMSHOUSES
31. HOSIER'S ALMSHOUSES, LUDLOW
These almshouses were founded by John Hosier, a
Ludlow draper, who acquired their site in 1462. (fn. 1)
They were in existence by 1482, (fn. 2) having presumably
been built in Hosier's lifetime. In 1486 his executors
conveyed lands in Ludlow, Overton (in Richard's
Castle), Hopton Wafers, Cleobury North, and
Ayntree (in Stanton Lacy) worth £9 13s. 4d. a year,
with a sum of money and a silver cup together worth
£20, to the Palmers' Guild as a permanent endowment. (fn. 3) Admission to the almshouses was restricted
to brethren of the guild and inmates were to be
nominated and removed by the Guild's warden and
council. One of the inmates was appointed bellman.
He was to receive 2s. a year, his duty being to
summon the inmates to prayer in the almshouse
chapel at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. A chamber in the
almshouses was reserved for the priest of Hosier's
chantry. (fn. 4)
In 1551 the almshouses were said to contain 33
chambers, each with a chimney, and the inmates
were receiving doles of 4d. a week. (fn. 5) Their endowments, together with those of the Palmers' Guild,
were transferred in the following year to Ludlow
corporation (fn. 6) and they were administered by the
borough council until 1806, when this function was
delegated to a small committee. (fn. 7)
In 1591, when inmates were forbidden to receive
lodgers, and the almshouse doors were ordered to be
locked at 9 p.m. and opened at 6 a.m., admission
was restricted to aged and impotent poor who had
spent their youth in the town, (fn. 8) but in 1593 the
council was empowered to waive the residence
qualification should there by insufficient native
poor to fill the house. (fn. 9) General inspections of the
almshouses, in order to remove children and other
intruders and to check the qualifications of the
inmates, were ordered in 1594, (fn. 10) 1670, (fn. 11) 1694, (fn. 12) and
1732. (fn. 13) In the early 19th century admission was
restricted to parishioners of Ludlow, preference
being given to decayed tradesmen and widows. (fn. 14)
A chaplain was being employed to say morning
prayers in the almshouses by 1580 (fn. 15) and a succession
of such chaplains was appointed between 1611 and
the 1640s. (fn. 16) By 1748 it had become customary for
one or both of the town beadles to be granted a
chamber there (fn. 17) and by 1820 the head beadle was
performing the functions formerly exercised by the
bellman; he was also responsible for distributing
weekly and occasional payments to the inmates. (fn. 18)
Inmates received weekly payments of 4d. apiece
until the early 18th century. Fee-farm rents totalling
£33 6s. 8d., formerly paid by Ludlow corporation
to the Crown and acquired before 1649 by Richard
Tomline, then M.P. for Ludlow, were settled to the
use of the town's poor in 1652. (fn. 19) In 1716 part of this
sum was appropriated to cover an existing additional
weekly payment of 4d. to each inmate. (fn. 20) The rate
of weekly pay was raised to 1s. in 1753, (fn. 21) to 1s. 4d. in
1772, (fn. 22) to 1s. 6d. in 1786, (fn. 23) and to 2s. 6d. in 1804. (fn. 24)
The last was considered insufficient in 1818 (fn. 25) and by
1828 six of the 33 inmates were receiving an additional shilling a week. (fn. 26)
By 1820 each inmate was also in receipt of various
occasional payments totalling about 12s. 6d. a year. (fn. 27)
The sums of 10s. at Christmas and 5s. on Good
Friday, granted to the inmates by William Foxe and
his wife Jane in 1542 and 1554, (fn. 28) continued to be
paid by the corporation until the 1640s, as was a
further 6s. 8d. given by Richard Rogers, c. 1601, to
be distributed on Good Friday. These payments
were discontinued during the Civil War and were
not revived. (fn. 29) A reversionary interest in an annual
rent charge of £10, granted to the use of the almshouses by James Walker in 1625, (fn. 30) was later considered to be merged in the general endowment for
weekly pay. (fn. 31) The following persons made benefactions to provide occasional payments to inmates
before 1820: (fn. 32)
Thomas Candland (by will proved 1617). 4d.
apiece on Ash Wednesday. (fn. 33)
Thomas Pingle (by will of 1640). 16s. on 25
March; (fn. 34) lost by 1820.
William Archer (by deed of 1677). 20s. on 25
March.
Susan Gay (by deed of 1724). £6 to the inmates of
Hosier's and Foxe's Almshouses.
Mary Beetenson (d. c. 1806). £100, invested in
stock and producing £5 7s. 4d. annual income in 1820.
Ann Smith (grant of 1809). £50, invested in stock
to provide coals. (fn. 35) In 1820 the annual interest of
£2 10s. 8d. was distributed in money.
Susannah Smith (d. 1814). £100, invested in
stock and in 1820 1s. 6d. was given half-yearly to
each inmate.
Lloyd's Money (origin unknown). In 1820 an
annual rent charge of 13s. 4d. was paid from a house
in Dinham.
Following the Municipal Corporations Act (1835)
management of Hosier's Almshouses, the grammar
school, and the appointment and remuneration of
the preacher and assistant were transferred from
the borough to a separate body of Municipal
Charity Trustees in 1837. (fn. 36) Protracted lawsuits over
the division of the charity estate from that belonging to the borough were settled in 1846, when 1,052
acres were assigned to the charity trustees, together
with some £6,000 in respect of arrears, repairs, and
legal costs. (fn. 37) Management of the grammar school was
transferred to a separate body of governors in 1876. (fn. 38)
A Scheme of 1914 went some way towards separating the ecclesiastical functions of the Municipal
Charity Trustees from those concerned with the
almshouses by creating a body of Ecclesiastical
Trustees, (fn. 39) but the latter was not provided with a
separate endowment until 1956. (fn. 40)
Under a Scheme of 1848 the 33 inmates of the
almshouses were required to have been resident in
Ludlow for 10 years and to be of good repute. (fn. 41)
Stipends of 7s. a week were assigned to them and in
every third year they were to be given dark blue
cloaks or coats. Inmates were expected to attend
church daily, but this does not appear to have been
enforced and in later Schemes attendance at church
was left to the discretion of the trustees. A warden
and matron, usually a married couple, were regularly
appointed after 1852. (fn. 42) A proposal in 1877 to use the
surplus income of the Municipal Charities to enlarge
the almshouses by purchasing two adjoining houses
and increasing the number of inmates to 42 (fn. 43) was
abandoned. Under a Scheme of 1881 the trustees
were empowered to provide medical attendance and
to apply two-thirds of the surplus income to provide
pensions of up to 10s. a week to persons living
outside the almshouses. Like the inmates these were
to have a 10-year residence qualification and
preference was to be given to those 'reduced by
misfortune from better circumstances'. By 1895,
when additional gifts totalling £3,150 had been
bequeathed to the almshouses, the Municipal
Charities had an annual income of £1,532, of which
nearly £700 was spent on the almshouses. In 1921
the trustees were empowered to appoint a salaried
warden and to pay supplementary stipends of up to
5s. 6d. a week to inmates under 70 years of age. The
number of inmates was limited to 24 in 1956, when
their stipends were discontinued, and since that
date no further recipients of out-pension have been
nominated. In 1961 the almshouses had an annual
income of £963.
The original almshouse building was in need of
extensive repair by 1732, when a petition from 9
inmates pointed out that, owing to the collapse of
partitions between the chambers, and the poor
condition of floors, they were in 'manifest danger of
their lives'. (fn. 44) An order of 1740 requiring inmates to
reside under threat of stopping their pay (fn. 45) suggests
that some of them had found safer accommodation
elsewhere. Estimates for rebuilding the almshouses
were obtained in 1756 (fn. 46) when the architect William
Baker was paid for drawing a plan. (fn. 47) In 1758 the
building was taken down and rebuilt on the same
site, (fn. 48) the architect then employed being T. F.
Pritchard. (fn. 49) The impressive three-storied building
faces east across the churchyard and consists of a
central range of seven bays flanked by projecting
wings, each of two bays. The front and side walls are
of red brick with a stone cornice and wood casement
windows. The three central bays are set forward and
surmounted by a pediment containing a large
cartouche with the arms of Ludlow corporation.
Above the central doorway is a round-headed niche
with eared architrave, and a tablet at second-floor
level bears a Latin inscription recording the rebuilding. It was evidently possible to economize on the
rear elevation which is largely hidden by surrounding buildings; the wall is of stone rubble, perhaps
re-used material, and the old-fashioned mullioned
and transomed windows have lead glazing. Iron
railings to the fore-court were erected shortly before
1820 (fn. 50) and removed c. 1968. (fn. 51) Plumbers' work
carried out in 1857 (fn. 52) included dated rainwaterheads on the east front. Each inmate of the almshouses occupies a single room of which there were
originally 11 on each floor. Access is from corridors
at the rear running the full length of the building and
by newel stairs from cellar to attics in the two wings.
Bathrooms were inserted in the north wing when
the almshouses were modernized in 1959 (fn. 53) and part
of the south wing has been adapted as a flat for the
matron.
Until modern times one of the inmates or a town
beadle acted as warden. The almshouses did not
have a common seal.