TQ5343 : Almshouses, Penshurst
taken 15 years ago, near to Penshurst, Kent, England
Penshurst is a village 4 miles west of Tonbridge. It is sited close to the confluence of the River Medway and River Eden. The village grew up around the Mediaeval house of Penshurst Place. The village has a number of services including a church, post office, pub, school, village hall and tearooms.
Wikipedia: Link
Website: Link
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people (typically elderly people who can no longer work to earn enough to pay rent) to live in a particular community. They are often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of previous employment, or their widows, and are generally maintained by a charity or the trustees of a bequest.
Alms are, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed folk. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan; the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, dating to about 1132. In the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses.
An incomplete list of British Almshouses can be found at Link