Housing the Elderly Poor: From Philanthropist to Local Authority

Abstract

Almshouse charities are long-established providers of accommodation for the elderly poor. In the early-twentieth century, the state entered the field with the old age pension, and after a succession of Acts to encourage building of working-class housing, offered subsidies to local authorities specifically for ‘aged persons’ homes’. Initial take-up was predominantly in the north, and the very first were built at Dormanstown, Redcar. This article considers the process by which this was achieved, and various models and factors which may have influenced the design and layout. The evidence suggests that the specific and atypical local context, within which almshouses were a major factor, was significant in producing a form which later became common for local authorities across the country.

Keywords:

• almshouses
• elderly
• council housing
• garden cities
• aged miners’ homes

Acknowledgements

I should like to acknowledge the help of Stewart Ramsdale of Tees Heritage (Cleveland Buildings Preservation Trust Ltd), Brian Stobbs of the Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association, Carol Morgan at the Institution of Civil Engineers, and Hugh Caffrey for information on later local authority housing.