Trinity Hospital, Mile End Road

These Almshouses, set back from the road, are on the northside of Mile End Road.  They are the last link that the East End has with the Corporation of Trinity House.  On land given by Captain Mudd, of Ratcliffe an Elder Brother of Trinity, the Corporation erected, in 1695, twenty-eight little houses with a private chapel.  They were for the use of Masters and Captains or their widows.  A statue was also erected to Captain Sanders, another benefactor.  

The Almshouses have lived a precarious life.  At the turn of the twentieth century they had fallen into ruin.  They were to be demolished but a vigorous local campaign saved them and they were restored.  Again their existence was threatened in the 1950s.  After being badly damaged during the Second World War, the Almshouses were allowed to fall into ruin.  The lawns were covered in bushes and weeds.  In 1954, the London County Council came to the rescue, again after a local campaign to save them.  They bought the Almshouses, repaired them and used them to house their social workers.  Later the Stepney Borough Council became responsible and the Almshouses have since been used for social housing.  

Happily, we can still see the magnificent entrance to the Almshouses.  And we can still peer through the railings and see a scene hardly changed since the reign of William III.