ALMSHOUSES OF LONDON

 

 

Skinners Almshouses

Green Lanes, Palmers Green, N13 4AE

 

In 1894 the Skinners Company built new almshouses on farmland in Palmers Green, purchased from a Mr Graves. The area was still very much rural, with few houses. The Great Northern Railway line to Enfield ran to the west of the almshouses.

In 1895 the residents of the Skinners Almshouses in Mile End Road were transferred to the new buildings.

Designed in an Arts and Crafts style, the 18 cottages were arranged at a right-angle around two sides of a quadrangle, with a lodge at the entrance on Green Lanes. The stone statues of the two cripples, which had been mounted on the entrance gate of the Mile End almshouses, had also been transferred and were inserted into niches in the pillars on each side of the gates by the lodge.

The almshouses accommodated 6 poor men and 12 poor women.

In 1966 a fire completely destroyed the buildings. One female resident died.

To be able to rebuild the almshouses, the eastern part of the site was sold off for housing development. A new road - Pellipar Close, with its entrance off Fox Lane - separated the two halves.

By 1976 the almshouse complex contained 39 residential units.

 

Current status

The almshouses were again rebuilt and re-opened in October 2006 as Skinners Court, an 'extra care' home. It has 48 self-contained apartments - 36 with one bedroom and 12 with two bedrooms - for older people with varying degrees of support needs. The two stone statues of the cripples now reside in the private garden of the complex.

N.B. Photographs obtained in August 2020

Skinners Court 

The almshouses were rebuilt again in 2006 (above and below)

Skinners Court

 

Skinners Court

The eastern part of the original site is now occupied by apartment blocks.

References (Accessed 6th September 2020)

Ditchfield PH 1904 The City Companies of London and Their Good Works. London, J.M. Dent, p.109.

London Borough of Enfield 2019 Appendix B Design Codes for Small sites, p.17. In: Enfield Small Sites Research.

 

http://12.wp.com

http://mepk.co.uk

https://londonpostcodewalks.wordpress.com

www.alamy.com

www.british-history.ac.uk

www.housingcare.org

www.images-of-london.co.uk

www.palmersgreenn13.com

www.victorianlondon.org

Last updated 5th September 2020

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