Hussey's Almshouses

Hussey's Almshouses are in Castle Street, Salisbury and are maintained and controlled by Salisbury City Council. These pictures, taken in March 2001, show a pretty courtyard with well maintained residences within.

They were founded in 1794 by William Hussey, an alderman of the city for many years. He was the object of praise when the City Corporation passed a Resolution "being the 50th Anniversary of the day in which William Hussey, Esq. Senior Alderman of this Corporation, passed through the office of chief magistrate of the city.." He was described as having brought honour to the city and a man of unimpeachable integrity and independence.

In 1794 he made a gift of a parcel of land to the city. The land had fifteen buildings on it and he stipulated that ten of these were to be let to aged and infirm, poor residents of the city, preferably married couples, with the proviso that the surviving partner would remain in the house until his or her death. The other five houses were to be let and the surplus of rent received from these five would be used to provide food and clothing for the almshouse tenants. He also left a bequest of £3500 in his Will to provide weekly pensions. This pension was for the princely sum of 2s 10d (13 pence in decimal currency). This was increased to 3s.6d (17.5 pence) in 1824.

In 1834 the original ten houses had been reconstructed and were now thirteen dwellings but the surplus rents for the five let properties was proving insufficient and the almshouses were falling into a state of decay. The whole complex was rebuilt in 1875 with the larger houses incorporating workshops. By 1895 the complex could house 7 married couples, six unmarried persons and a nurse. Nowadays the nurse has been replaced by a warden who occupies a new house built in 1984-1986 when a community room and a visitors room was also provided.

Extract from the City accounts 1903

Husseys Almshouses were rebuilt in 1874 on the original site in Castle Street. There are six single and eight double houses, the premises being occupied by 6 married couples, 5 widows, 2 widowers and the nurse, who has one of the larger houses.
Each single inmate has a large room with a recess for a bed. The larger houses have a second room, or in some cases two rooms, upstairs, the third room being used by some of the inmates as a workshop, e.g. bootmaker's workroom. There is a separate water supply and closet for each tenement.
Each single inmate of the several almshouses receives a pension of 6s (30p) a week, the allowance for married couples being 9s (45p) The pensions are paid by Mr. Arthur Crook, who acts as almoner and receives £20 a year for his services.
An allowance of coal is also provided for each inmate.