In 1838 the Court of Assistants of the Cutlers Company resolved to build some almshouses to add to "the welfare and comfort of their poorer Brethren and Sisters", and accordingly voted some funds for that purpose.

A piece of land in the Balls Pond Road was purchased and the foundation stone was laid on 25th June 1839. By 1842 only seven of the intended 12 almshouses had been completed at a cost of £2,000, but they were immediately occupied by poor freemen and liverymen of the Company, or their widows.

The 2-storey terraced block was eventually finished. Built in the Gothic Revival style, it lay at right-angles to the Balls Pond Road, with its frontage following the line of the East Villas of the Metropolitan Benefits Societies Asylum. The central section had a porch surmounted by a gable, on the front of which was the Cutlers Company arms. Each almshouse contained three rooms, and each had its own yard. The residents received a liberal allowance from the Company.

During WW2 (1939-1945) the buildings sustained some blast damage from bombs, as did much of the neighbourhood.

By 1964 the Company regarded the almshouses as 'uninhabitable'. The buildings were sold.

Current status