The Almshouses

The Almshouses

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The Almshouses are famous in this area. With their picturesque arcade they were built of solid granite. The date of 1637 on the wall is the date of their refurbishment as Almshouses as they were originally a church house, built as a hospital in 1451. All that separated the individual dwellings from each other were oak plank and muntin screens. During the 18th century they were used as a work house. In the mid-19th century it was still administered by church wardens.Early in the 19th century the building was converted into four one up, one down dwellings. The facade became damaged; and they began to fall into disrepair. In 1938 Mr Davie of Hayne bought them for £105. He presented them to the town and created a new trust for them. By 1940 they were converted into two tenements and in 1952 they were purchased by the National Trust. Externally they have not changed a great deal since 1637.