33. THE MERCERS' (OR ST. CHAD'S) ALMSHOUSES, SHREWSBURY
These almshouses were founded in the early 15th
century by Benet Upton, who endowed them
with rents arising from two tenements in High
Street. (fn. 1) Perhaps under the provisions of an obit
agreement at the foundress's death, the endowments
were vested in Thomas Attingham, chantry priest in
the Lady Chapel of St. Chad's. (fn. 2) They were increased
by the mercer (fn. 3) Richard Attingham, presumably a
kinsman of Thomas, who in 1457 directed that after
his death a moiety of the rent of a house on the
north side of St. Chad's churchyard should be applied
to the almshouses, the remainder forming the endowment of a daily service in the Lady Chapel. (fn. 4)
The process whereby the Mercers' Guild secured
control of the almshouses was completed in the
1460s. In 1466 the chantry priest of the Lady
Chapel empowered the guild to collect and disburse rents arising from the original endowment (fn. 5)
and in the following year Richard Attingham's
endowment was vested in the guild. (fn. 6) By 1467 the
almshouse inmates were paid a weekly dole of 1d.
apiece (fn. 7) and this scale remained unchanged until
c. 1553 (fn. 8) In 1540 the Mercers' chantry priest was
empowered to collect guild rents, pay allowances,
and 'see to the ordering of the poor people'. (fn. 9) It is
likely that this was the way in which the almshouses were normally administered at this period.
All the endowments of the Mercers' Guild, apart
from the almshouses themselves, passed to the
Crown when the guild chantry was abolished in
1547 (fn. 10) and they were granted in 1549 to Robert
Wood. (fn. 11) Numerous lawsuits brought by the Mercers
to recover possession of these endowments, which
included their hall and adjacent properties in Steelyard Shut (later Golden Cross Passage) continued
until the 1570s (fn. 12) but were unsuccessful. The only
contribution subsequently made by the Mercers'
Guild to the support of the almshouses was an
annual payment of 2s., raised to 2s. 2d. after 1635,
arising from a house in Belmont, opposite the almshouses. (fn. 13)
The almshouses owed their later endowment,
meagre as it was, to the interest of the Ireland
family, members of which were prominent in the
affairs of the Mercers' Guild during most of the
16th century. (fn. 14) David Ireland had given £100 to the
almshouses by will proved in 1530 (fn. 15) but the bequest
was not put into effect immediately. His widow
Catherine later added a further £80 and transferred the whole sum to her sons Thomas and
Robert Ireland, (fn. 16) who in 1553 charged their
respective moieties of an estate at Lythwood in
Condover with two annual rent charges of £4 for
the benefit of the almshouses. (fn. 17) Although this
endowment came from the Irelands the arrangement seems to have been the result of negotiations
between the Mercers' Guild and Robert Wood to
provide an alternative to the lost medieval endowments. (fn. 18) Had he not died in the following year it is
likely that Thomas Ireland would have substantially
enlarged his parents' gift. (fn. 19)
Robert and Thomas Owen, who made further
bequests to the almshouses in the early 17th century,
were nephews of Robert and Thomas Ireland. (fn. 20)
Thomas Owen (d. 1618) (fn. 21) settled £2 a year on the
almshouses (fn. 22) and before 1640 Robert Owen had
endowed them with an annual rent charge of £1 6s.
arising from lands in Sutton Lane. (fn. 23) The latter
sum was afterwards paid annually by the heirs of
Robert's daughter Alice (fn. 24) but Thomas Owen's
bequest appears to have been abortive. Similar shortlived or abortive endowments were provided by Alice
Hosier, (fn. 25) Esther Ireland, (fn. 26) and Margaret Eyton. (fn. 27)
In 1591 responsibility for half-yearly distribution
of the Lythwood rent charges was vested in trustees. (fn. 28) These were apparently nominated by the
Mercers' Guild but when new trustees were
appointed in 1616 the churchwardens of St. Chad's
were directed to supervise payment to the inmates. (fn. 29)
No later trust deeds survive and neither the Mercers'
Guild nor the parish officers of St. Chad's subsequently concerned themselves directly with the
administration of the almshouses. From the mid 17th
century inmates were nominated by the successors
of Robert and Thomas Ireland as owners of the
Lythwood estate. (fn. 30) The Lythwood and Sutton Lane
rent charges, with the small annual payment from
the Mercers' Guild, produced £9 6s. 2d. a year in the
early 19th century, providing each inmate with not
more than 16s. annually. (fn. 31) By the later 18th century
inmates who were parishioners of St. Chad's were
receiving additional relief from other parish charities. (fn. 32) By will of 1848 the Revd. Richard Scott, who
had taken an interest in the welfare of the inmates
during his lifetime, bequeathed a sum later invested
in £163 stock to provide them with coal. (fn. 33)
The almshouses, which originally consisted of
13 one-room dwellings, were timber-framed with a
footing of red sandstone. (fn. 34) The single-story range
flanked the south-east wall of St. Chad's churchyard and seems to have been of approximately the
same dimensions as the Drapers' almshouses. (fn. 35) One
of the chambers fell down in 1790 and another had
gone by 1808, when the remainder were described
as 'wretched hovels'. Several of the dwellings still
consisted of a single room in the early 19th century
but others had loft-bedrooms reached by ladders.
Six chimney stacks which then ranged along the
north-east wall had probably been added, like those
of the Drapers' almshouses, in the 17th century.
Plans to rebuild the almshouses on three possible
sites were debated by the St. Chad's vestry in
1807-8 but ultimately abandoned, (fn. 36) and a scheme
for the erection of new almshouses in Scott's
memory was mooted in 1848 but foundered for lack
of support. (fn. 37) To the chagrin of the Mercers' Guild (fn. 38)
no serious attempt was made to find an alternative
site when the almshouses were purchased by the
corporation and demolished in 1858. (fn. 39) Under a
Scheme of 1868 their endowments were vested in the
vicar of St. Chad's and two other trustees and were
thereafter distributed to the poor of the parish
generally. (fn. 40)
There is no evidence that the almshouses ever
had a warden or a common seal.
34. THE DRAPERS' (OR ST. MARY'S) ALMSHOUSES, SHREWSBURY
These almshouses, which have been administered
since the later 15th century by the Shrewsbury
Drapers' Company, seem to have originated in a
private benefaction by the astute Shrewsbury
draper Degory Watur. In 1444 the dean of St.
Mary's granted licence to the churchwardens and
parishioners to build an almshouse for 13 poor on
the west side of St. Mary's churchyard. Inmates
were to be chosen chiefly from St. Mary's parish but
selection was to be made with the advice of Degory
Watur, (fn. 41) and by another deed of the same date the
dean and canons conveyed the site of the almshouses
to Watur, giving him licence to admit inmates. (fn. 42)
Watur obtained a confirmation of this conveyance
from the parishioners in 1451 (fn. 43) and in 1457, when the
almshouses had been built, he enfeoffed Edward,
Earl of March, with them and with the remainder
of the estates. (fn. 44) This device was presumably adopted
to counter the legal difficulties in which both Watur
and the Drapers' Company were at this time becoming involved. (fn. 45) It was also employed by Katherine
Bonel, who made Edward IV her feoffee when in
1461 she bequeathed rent charges totalling £4 7s.
10d. to Watur and the inmates for the support of the
almshouses and to endow a chantry priest. (fn. 46)
By will of 1477 Watur devised his residuary
estate to the Drapers' Company to find a priest and
to sustain the poor in the almshouses. (fn. 47) Katherine
Bonel described Watur as warden of the almshouses in her will (fn. 48) and a respectable tradition
records that he lived in the hall of the almshouse
and that he regularly attended services with the
inmates in the Lady Chapel of St. Mary's. (fn. 49) In
1468-9 he spent 53s. 9½d. on various articles of
clothing for the inmates; one Lawrence and 'Catherine a foolish wench', who were then living in the
hall, were presumably in his personal care. (fn. 50)
The almshouses provided quarters for 14 persons
and for a master, who lived in the hall and who was
normally a married man after the Reformation. (fn. 51)
During the later 15th and early 16th centuries
common inmates received stipends of 1d. a week.
Doles of clothing did not continue after Watur's
death but each inmate received a bushel of corn a
month and a load of wood annually. There is some
evidence that a tradition of communal feeding,
doubtless instituted by Watur, persisted until the
early 16th century. Between 1497 and 1503, therefore, twelve loads of wood were delivered annually
to the hall and in 1653 the hall's furniture still
included a long bench against one of the walls. (fn. 52)
The master's wood allowance had been reduced to a
mere two loads by 1546, when he also received a
double stipend of 2d. weekly, (fn. 53) perhaps implying
that he was a married man at that time. Early
masters were not necessarily aged or poor: Thomas
Harrison, clerk, aged 68 when he gave evidence on
the religious observances of the almspeople in 1579,
had been master at the latest in the reign of Mary. (fn. 54)
Although particulars of the almshouses were
recorded in the Drapers' chantry certificate of
1546, (fn. 55) that of 1548 avoided mention of anything
other than the £4 said to be paid annually to their
chantry priest (fn. 56) and it was probably for this reason
that their endowments escaped confiscation under
the Chantries Acts. In the course of abortive
proceedings brought against the Drapers in 1575-9
under a commission for concealed lands deponents
alleged that the almspeople had regularly prayed for
their founders and benefactors twice a week in St.
Mary's church and once in the 'poor folks' hall'. (fn. 57)
Rules for the government of the almshouses
drawn up in 1587 (fn. 58) directed that married couples
should be removed from all houses except the hall.
The latter was to be occupied by a couple, part of
whose duties was to nurse the sick. Candidates for
admission were to be not less than 50 years of age
and were required to bring with them a winding
sheet with 4d. tied up in one corner to pay for their
burial. No specific residence qualifications were laid
down but the churchwardens of St. Mary's were
given an option to nominate four candidates at each
vacancy, one of whom was to be chosen by the
master and wardens of the Drapers' Company. The
last provision had ceased to be observed by 1638,
when St. Mary's went to law to establish their
rights, but an amicable settlement was reached in
1640, when the Drapers undertook to follow the
procedure of 1587 and to restrict admissions to
suitably qualified residents of St. Mary's if any
could be found. (fn. 59) More than ordinary care seems to
have been taken over the condition of the almshouses during the Interregnum. A general purge of
the inmates was carried out in 1647 (fn. 60) and the
prohibition of married couples was reiterated in
1652. (fn. 61) Improvements in the standard of accommodation were being made at this time (fn. 62) and in
1658 a standing committee was appointed, one of
the functions of which was to draw up 'good and
wholesome laws' for the almshouses, taking advice
if necessary from similar institutions elsewhere. (fn. 63)
This committee, however, failed to take any action
and is not recorded after 1663, when it was urged to
'take work in hand'. (fn. 64)
Allowances of corn to the inmates had ceased by
the 1540s (fn. 65) and in 1577 each of them received about
2d. a week. (fn. 66) An additional shilling a quarter was
paid them from 1595, (fn. 67) probably representing the
income from two houses given to the Drapers by
George Wood. (fn. 68) The rate of quarterly payment
remained unchanged until the early 18th century
but during the 1640s they occasionally received
small sums in years in which the Drapers' Easter
feast was not held (fn. 69) and this became formalized as
a regular annual payment of 16s. after the Restora
tion. (fn. 70) By will of 1612 Edward Owen bequeathed a
rent charge of 30s. a year for the use of the almshouses. (fn. 71) This was apparently being paid to the
company in the 1650s (fn. 72) but there is no later evidence
for its payment. (fn. 73) The provision of coats or cloaks
for the inmates, first recorded in 1670, (fn. 74) became a
regular feature after 1677, when a bequest of £200
from Timothy Tourneur was set aside for this
purpose. (fn. 75) Until the 1690s distribution of coats took
place annually and thereafter in alternate years. (fn. 76) A
reversionary interest in a rent charge of £10 a year,
arising from the manor of Middleton Scriven, was
granted to the almshouses by Edward Briggs by
deed of 1669 (fn. 77) but no income was apparently received
from this source until 1721, when the total annual
allowance to the inmates was raised from £9 4s. to
£16. (fn. 78) A further and more substantial increase was
made in 1746, when the total annual allowance was
raised to £37 10s., thus providing each inmate with
about £2 6s. 10d. a year. (fn. 79) An additional 10s. 6d. a
quarter was paid them after 1809. (fn. 80)
Early-19th-century descriptions of the almshouses
imply that they were an integrated structure,
consisting of a range of single story apartments and a
two-story central hall, (fn. 81) but a careful drawing of
1823 (fn. 82) snows a more complex set of buildings. To
the north-west stood 13 single-story apartments,
most of which had tall chimney stacks on the street
front. Adjoining these was a close-studded timberframed building of 4 or 5 bays. A porch projected
on the street near its north-western end and, while
most of this building was then of two stories, the
bay between the porch and the almshouse apartments had been raised to three-story height. A brickfronted house, demolished by 1823, had adjoined the
south-eastern gable of the two-story house (fn. 83) and
may well have been part of the same building. Most
of the difficulties of interpretation are resolved if the
two-story range is regarded as having been originally
Degory Watur's own house. The projecting porch
presumably marks the position of the screens passage with a chamber over at the lower (north-west)
end of the hall. The service bay would then be
represented by the section with a raised roof adjoining the almshouse apartments and the demolished
structure at the south-east end of the hall may have
been the solar. Some such arrangement was clearly
intended in 1444. While the churchwardens of St.
Mary's were given licence to build on a site 106½
feet long by 12½ feet wide, (fn. 84) Degory Watur was
granted a considerably longer site of 63 by 4 ells
(approximately 189 by 12 feet). (fn. 85) The latter corresponds with the total length of the almshouse site, (fn. 86)
approximately represented by the present southwest wall of St. Mary's churchyard, while the
churchwardens' site would roughly match the area
occupied by the single-story apartments, each of
which measured internally 8 feet by 11 feet. (fn. 87) The
porch was decorated with a painting of Degory
Watur and his wife, an effigy of Edward IV, the
arms of the Drapers' Company, and a lengthy verse
inscription. (fn. 88) These were refurbished in 1659, (fn. 89)
1695, (fn. 90) and 1721 (fn. 91) but the inscription had long been
defaced by 1808. (fn. 92) A chamber over the 'poor folks'
hall' is recorded in 1579, when it was being used as a
muniment room. (fn. 93) This was presumably not a full
first floor but a small room over the porch and
passage, access to which was still by means of a
ladder in the mid 17th century. (fn. 94) A 'lower chimney',
recorded in 1653, (fn. 95) was probably that shown in
1823 by the side of the porch. The hall, however,
had no fewer than 12 window shutters in 1653, (fn. 96)
suggesting that it may already have been divided
into smaller apartments. The incongruous tall
chimney stacks on the almshouse apartments were
inserted c. 1647, when their 'chambers' were said to
have been built higher. (fn. 97)
The almshouses were said to be wretched, filthy,
and dangerously unwholesome in 1808. (fn. 98) They were
demolished, c. 1824, when the site was acquired for
street widening, and new almshouses were erected
on the opposite side of the street to designs by John
Carline the younger. (fn. 99) These were brick-built in the
Tudor style and comprised 18 two-story apartments
set around a central quadrangle. Above the gateway in the centre of the street front was a tower-like
lodge for the porter. The inmates received stipends
of £1 2s. 3d. a year in the 1830s (fn. 100) and the scale of
allowances was steadily increased later in the 19th
century. (fn. 101) It was set at £3 a quarter in 1880 (fn. 102) and
since 1901 has been not less than 5s. a week. (fn. 103)
Allowances of clothing under the Tourneur bequest
continued and coal was also given until 1949. The
right of St. Mary's to nominate inmates had lapsed
by the 19th century and, as membership of the
Drapers' Company dwindled, it had become
customary by the 1880s for members to nominate
to vacancies in rotation. This practice ceased after
1930, when the almshouses were constituted part of
the Shrewsbury Drapers' Company General Charities. The Scheme then adopted introduced no other
significant changes in the administration of the almshouses. A scheme to sell the almshouses and to
rebuild them on a new site was under discussion in
the 1930s. This was postponed on the outbreak of
war and was not carried into effect until 1964, when
new almshouses were built at Fairford Place,
Longden Coleham, and the old ones demolished.
Wardens were almost invariably paupers after the
time of Degory Watur and the almshouses never
made use of a distinct seal.