In 1840 Joel Emanuel, a former Bevis Marks silversmith and jeweller, provided funds for ten almshouses for elderly poor Sephardic Jews.

The almshouses were erected at the southwest corner of Wellclose Square, on the site of what had been a sugarhouse. They opened in August 1849 - the largest of the Jewish almshouses in London.

The ten houses - five on each side of an open courtyard - were capable of accommodating 50 people. A small synagogue stood at the rear of the courtyard, facing the southern side of the Square.

Each almsperson received a weekly allowance of 1s 6d (8p) and an annual allowance of 2 tons of coal.

In 1859 the Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor (more commonly known as the Jewish Board of Guardians) was established. One of the first set of institutions that the Board controlled was the Jewish almshouses, under the administration of the Almshouse Committee. These included the Jacob Henry Moses Almshouses, the Joel Emanuel Almshouses and the Moses and Solomon Almshouses.

In 1903 the Wellclose Square buildings were offered for sale and, in 1904, the residents were transferred to newly built Joel Emanuel Almshouses in Egerton Road, Hackney.

Current status