![[Header#^header-embed]]
> [!SUMMARY]
> An almshouse is a historic form of social housing, typically a charitable residence for the poor, elderly, or disabled, providing accommodation at a low cost.
## Streatham High Road, 1832-1930
The Thrale Almshouses were built on Streatham High Road next to the police station[^2] in 1832 by the four surviving daughters of [[Henry Thrale|Henry]] and [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester Thrale]]:
- [[Hester Maria Thrale]];
- [[Susannah Arabella Thrale]];
- [[Cecilia Margaretta Thrale]]; and
- Henry Merrick Hoare, widower of [[Sophia Thrale]].
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The almshouses provided subsidised lodgings for four poor widows or single women of Streatham who had _"attained an honest old age"_.
![[thrale-almshouses-streatham-high-road.png]]
<div class="caption">Thrale almshouses 1832-1930, Streatham High Road.</div>
> [!info] On the front was the following inscription:
> QUATUOR MULIERIBUS,
> QUÆ IN HÂC PAROCHIÂ PAUPERES
> SENECTUTEM HONESTAM ATTIGERINT,
> HENRICI THRALE QUATUOR NATÆ
> HAS ÆDES
> DOMICILIUM POSERUNT.
> A.D. MDCCCXXXII.
This translates to:
>Four women[^1]
>who, in this pauper parish,
>have attained honourable old age,
>the four daughters of Henry Thrale,
>have established
>this dwelling.
>A.D. 1832.
![[Thrale Almshouses.webp]]
<div class="caption">Thrale almshouses 1832-1930, Streatham High Road.</div>
### Demolition & upgrade
The almshouses were demolished in 1930 when the land was sold for redevelopment.
## Polworth Road, 1930 - date
In their place, eight new homes, designed by Cecil M Quilter, were erected at 27 Polworth Road, Streatham SW16 2HA.
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![[thrale-almshouses.jpg]]
<div class="caption">Thrale almshouses 1930 onwards, 27 Polworth Road.</div>
### Extension for Lady Edith Robinson
In 1939, following the death of Lady Edith Robinson, the wife of the Streatham Conservative Association, it was decided to erect additional accommodation in her memory and £1,000 was raised which covered the cost of building two new almshouses on the Polworth Road site.
### 2015 renovation
The original 10 homes built in the 1930s were becoming very outdated and no longer fit for modern comfortable living.
So in 2015, the [Thrale Almshouse & Relief in Need charity](https://www.thralealmshouses.org.uk) embarked on a £3m redevelopment creating a mix of 17 updated and new homes, around an enclosed garden fit for the 21st century and women of 60 and over with strong connections to the ancient parish of Streatham.
![[Thrale Almshouses-2015.jpg]]
<div class="caption">Renovated houses on the left and new build houses on the right.</div>
The side wings - containing eight of the original ten almshouses - were retained. These were upgraded and extended. The original central block was demolished and replaced with a new building containing three almshouses. An additional block - containing six almshouses - was added to the previously empty fourth side of the quadrangle, thus securing the courtyard.
![[Thrale Almshouses-2015.png]]
<div class="caption">2015 plaque.</div>
## See also
![[hester-maria-thrale-1764-1857🔎#^hester-maria-thrale-infoblock]]
#history/place/england/surrey/streatham
#history/person/THRALE/hester-maria-born-1764
#history/person/THRALE/susannah-arabella-born-1770
#history/person/THRALE/cecilia-margareta-born-1777
#history/person/THRALE/sophia-born-1771
#history/person/HOARE/henry-merrick-born-1770
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[^1]: In his 1920 book _Dr Johnson and Mrs. Thrale,_ A.M. Broadley speculated that the expression "_quatuor natse_" is probably accounted for by the fact that the original parties to conveyance were the three daughters and Henry Merrick Hoare, widow of the late [[Sophia Thrale, Sophia Mostyn née Thrale]].
[^2]: The first site of the almshouses was at 103-105 Streatham High Road, which in 2020 was a public house called Pratts & Payne.