Vachel Almshouses

Vachel Almshouses

Vachel Almshouses in 2011
Location within Reading Town Centre
Former names St Mary’s Almshouses
General information
Status Grade II listed[1]
Type Almshouses
Architectural style Vernacular
Address Almshouses, Castle Street
Reading
Berkshire
United Kingdom
RG1 7SS
Coordinates 51°27′08″N 0°58′34″W / 51.45228°N 0.976034°W / 51.45228; -0.976034Coordinates: 51°27′08″N 0°58′34″W / 51.45228°N 0.976034°W / 51.45228; -0.976034
Completed 1867[2]
Technical details
Floor count 2
Design and construction
Architect W H Woodman

Vachel Almshouses is a terrace of almshouses in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.

History

Plaque from original building

In 1634 almshouses were built in St Mary's Butts, which were called 'St Mary’s Almshouses'. The almshouses were built by Thomas Vachel. A plaque fixed on the building reads:

“ Sr. Thomas Vachel Kt. erected there Alms-Houses Anno Dom. 1634, and endow'd them with Forty Pounds p. Annum for ever for the Maintenance of Six Poor Men.[2] ”

They were demolished in 1867 and replaced with new buildings at a new location in Castle Hill, with money coming from the sale of the land. The new almshouses were renamed Vachel Almshouses after Thomas Vachel. They were designed by architect William Henry Woodman. The Almshouses were modernised in 1960-62.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Vachel Almhouses 1-32, Reading, Reading". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Vachel Almshouses". Flickr. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "St Mary's Almshouses". Julian Walker. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Almshouses". Reading History Trail. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2015.

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