Sitting on the side of the building is a large
plaque with the date of A.D. 1903. It reads:
Erected by the Feoffees
Out of the fund bequeathed by
MISS FRANCES PEARS
Of this city, for the use of the
Aged and infirm of the parish of
PETERBOROUGH
Frances and her father had seen the poor condition of the old almshouses and being wealthy but with no heirs, had left their money to comfort the elderly poor of the city. Her father’s contribution was significant because there were lots of people living in the almshouses. In 1896 there were 44 people living in the Cumbergate almshouses alone. We know this thanks to the report of a Christmas gift of ‘tea, sugar, and a plum cake’[2] to each person who lived there. She also left £1,000 to Peterborough Infirmary, which may have contributed to one of the extensions there.
The Feoffees were a centuries old group of trustees who organised the city's charity needs. They had been created in 1572 and consisted of 14 men 'chosen from the most "honest, substantial and discreet" citizens, to administer lands and property in common ownership.'[i] It was a great privilege to be one of the Feoffees, which is why so many of the most influential men in Peterborough's past became one. By the Victorian era they owned and managed a sizable portfolio of properties, including The Bull and Dolphin.
Looking at the front of the building from Exchange Street it is easy to see that the almshouses were actually two separate buildings. However, the prominence of the plaque high on the western side of the building could easily fool a
casual bystander to believe that the entire L-shaped complex was built in 1903. What they would have missed is the
date over the main entrance door of the western building of 1835 and a large
(but now embarrassingly degraded) plaque at the rear of the building.
The building on Exchange Street to the east and stretching north (abutting McDonald’s) were built first in 1835 by the town Feoffees. The western building (with some matching architectural features but clearly a different building and on a different alignment) was finished in 1903 thanks to money left by Miss Pears but also built by the Feoffees.
Early pictures and maps of the site reveal that there were more buildings on the wedge-shaped site that have been removed. There was an earlier row of squat little almshouses along Cumbergate that had lath and plaster walls, lead-lined windows, and tall chimneys (to take them up to the same height as the chimneys of neighbouring buildings). These predated the 1835 row and ran almost parallel to them, which left a little courtyard in the middle (and to the west) for washing and other outdoor chores. But these were in increasingly poor condition, and by 1873 Walter Skirrow recommended that no new inmates should be placed in the older almshouses. Once the last inhabitant had died, he said, they should be pulled down to improve the situation for the eastern (1835) row. There is a wonderfully evocative painting of the almshouse courtyard by Wilfrid Wood here that shows the two contrasting rows, but it’s worth noting that it was painted in 1944, supposedly over 40 years after the western row was demolished.
On the corner where Miss Pears’ extension was built there had been a variety of buildings over time including (potentially) the Moot Hall and a fire station, and there were also some lavatories (just what you want next to almshouses!) In fact, the extension was built on a building that was previously a mortuary (a mortuary sited next to almshouses for the elderly seems a little cruel).
When the
Feoffees received the money from Miss Pears’ will there was a lot of discussion
about what to do with it and it quickly became a politically weighted issue.
Some suggested repairing the existing almshouses in Cumbergate and Westgate,
others suggested building new ones on Bishop’s Road to remove the ugly face of
charity from a prime location in the city. Even once they had agreed to leave
the almshouses in Cumbergate and build more, there were further issues. The
corner of Cumbergate and Exchange Street was a high traffic route and at an
acute angle, so it was vital that any new buildings were set at a bit of an angle
to allow good visibility round the corner to ease possible congestion and to
attempt to widen Exchange Street. However, Mr Clarabut (one of the executors of
Miss Pears’ will) and the Feoffees were quite keen to make the new building
square, so a small dispute grew. It was this argument that led to the new
building sitting at a strange angle to all of the other building along Exchange
Street and the north side of Cathedral Square and looking like an awkward
relative of the 1835 building.
Plans for the four additional almshouses were taken to the Town Council at the end of September 1902 along with plans to ‘re-build the Cumbergate almshouses’.[3] What it doesn’t make clear is which almshouses they plan to rebuild. There was excitement about the building of the new almshouses along with a large extension of the Post Office further round the street, with the Peterborough Advertiser claiming ‘the pretty little almshouses will make Cumbergate a decidedly important thoroughfare.’[4]
Thankfully, an article in 1903 explained exactly how Miss Pears’ money had been used, and an artist’s impression showed just how pretty the new almshouses were intended to be.
In November 1903 the Peterborough Standard revealed the full details of the new almshouses.[5] They explained that Miss Pears’ money was being used to build THREE almshouses; one was an extension of Wortley’s almshouses in Westgate (at the back of the site so not visible to the public), the building on the corner of Cumbergate and Exchange Street; and a similar structure at the opposite end of the 1835 almshouses to create three sides to a courtyard. At the time of the article the Westgate almshouses (ten single room dwellings) were almost complete and the Exchange Street building was under construction. The other building had not been started because the old row of almshouses were still standing despite being ‘exceedingly impractical’ and ‘in no little danger of one day falling down on the heads of the occupants.’ This is an image of the old almshouses as the south extension was being built.
The
almshouses built in 1835 were deemed to be ‘in a satisfactory condition’ and
would therefore be part of the new ‘quadrangle’ that would sit around a garden
and behind a short wall and iron palisades. The article goes on to describe the
content and dimensions of each of the little almsrooms and how very comfortable
and practical they would be. The stones used for the front of the extension was
from Ketton and the slate from Bangor. It also stated that the northern almshouse extension on Cumbergate was to look the same as the Exchange Street building but contain
ten rooms.
The
third and final building was begun in 1904 after the old almshouses had been removed.
Mr Clarabut, one of the executors of Miss Pears’ will and a stalwart supporter
of the almshouses was asked to lay the memorial stone in a ceremony in April
when the building was half complete.[6]
That memorial stone read:
This stone was laid April 18 1904
By Mr W. Clarabut
One of the Executors of the late
Miss Frances Pears
Feoffees:
H Little, J.h. Beeby
L.T. Jones, G Wyman
J.W. Buckle, T.J. Walker
(The layout is not true to the plaque, but a possible option)
I’ll be honest here. I’d presumed the northern extension had never been built. I’d never heard of it. I’d never seen it in any of the old pictures of Cumbergate and I’m not old enough to have known the city before Queensgate was built. But there are some obscure pictures of the building. In this photograph on the Peterborough Images site you can see the two extensions, the little wall and trees in the garden. Sadly, the northern extension was gobbled up by Queensgate, but we can be grateful that the 1835 and 1903 buildings remain.
To recap, Miss Pears left money in her will to the Feoffees for the
improvement of the city’s almshouses, be that rebuilding, extending or
improving. Her £5,000 bequest was used to build ten additional rooms at the
Westgate Almshouse (lost to Queensgate) and a total of 14 rooms at the
Cumbergate almshouses.
The
Cumbergate Almshouses were built in three phases in 1835, 1903, and 1904. The
latest extension was demolished with the building of Queensgate, but the
earlier two phases are still standing. The extension was built on the site of a
former mortuary and lavatories and was set back to widen Exchange Street and
make the junction safer.
.JPG)
The only issue now is that the listing for the site is completely wrong and could have allowed for the damage or destruction of features that should have been preserved.
The listing dates from 1973 and appears to have been written because somebody read the plaque on Cumbergate and walked on to the next building (I said it was a problem). Annoyingly the address isn't even correct - it says Cowgate in the details! It also states there are 'matching end blocks' despite the northern block being destroyed over 40 years ago. What is also quite infuriating is that there is a grade II listing for the little wall that bordered the garden, on the British Listed Buildings website, but the wall has since been destroyed! (It's no longer on the official listing website)
Thankfully, the Civic Society information on the buildings in Cumbergate here, written by Richard Hillier, is spot on. But why should the truth about the almshouses be sitting in information about blue plaques and not on the official listing?
It seems
imperative that the correct date and information is provided and the buildings
are given the respect they need. After all, the original almshouses on the site are
almost 190 years old, which make them (sadly) some of the oldest buildings left
in the city.
What this also reminds us is that datestones can be very misleading in the context of a building, which is something I’ll be building on in my next blogpost...
p.s. Apologies for the dodgy footnote. (Who knew it would be so difficult to retrofit a footnote?!)
Addendum: since writing this blogpost I applied to have the listing of Miss Pear's Almshouses changed and was successful! It's amazing what one person can do when you put your mind to it!
All images belong to the author.
[1]
Stamford Mercury, 3 December 1886, p.4.
[2]
Stamford Mercury, 25 December 1896, p.4.
[i] https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/constituencies/peterborough
[3]
Peterborough Advertiser, 1 October 1902, p.6.
[4]
Along with the new Post Office and Peterborough Advertiser building! Peterborough
Advertiser, 26 November 1902, p.5.
[5]
Peterborough Standard, 21 November 1903, p.6.
[6]
Peterborough Express, 20 April 1904, p.3.
