In his will of January 1689, Robert Aske, a wealthy merchant and former Master of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, bequeathed £20,000 (the equivalent of £40m today) so that a hospital (almshouse) could be established for 20 poor elderly single freemen of the Company, as well as a school to educate 20 sons of poor freemen. In addition, £12,000 (about £25m today) was left to a charity to be founded in his name (this was established in December 1690).

On 13th June 1690 a 21-acre site was purchased in Hoxton and work began on the building to house the almshouse and school.

Aske's Hospital opened in 1695. The central block, a sumptuous building, was well set back from the road, behind a brick wall with a central gateway.

Built of brick and stone, the block had a frontage of 400 ft (120 metres), with a promenade, some 340 ft (100 metres) long, under an elegant open colonnade supported by stone pillars in the Tuscan style. A central moulded pediment (in which was placed a clock) was adorned by Ionic columns. A statue of the founder was located in a niche above the central doorway. A chapel and the schoolrooms were located in this block and in projecting wings at both ends of the building.

At right-angles to the central block and either side of it was a detached terrace of almshouses, each containing ten apartments.

The garden was divided into small sections by hedges and railings.

The almshouses and the school were managed by the Haberdashers Company, who employed a chaplain, a steward, a butler, a porter, as well as cooks, nurses and other domestics.

Each almsperson had an apartment of three rooms; all other necessities, apart from clothes, were provided. Each received a pension of £3 a year - and a gown every two years.

By the 1820s the building had fallen into great disrepair. In 1824 it was demolished and rebuilt the following year.

The new building, with a central Doric portico flanked by wings built of plain brick, was much smaller than the one it replaced. However, the school accommodation was increased in size.

The almshouses closed in 1874 in order to substantially increase the size of the school. A School for Girls was established alongside the School for Boys - and both were officially opened by Prince Arthur of Connaught on 5th June 1875. The building then accommodated a day school for 300 girls and 300 boys.

By the end of the 19th century the site had become unsuitable and was sold. In 1898 the Schools moved away - the girls to Acton and the boys to West Hampstead (now used by Hampstead School). Both Schools were later reunited in Elstree.

Current status