Tregonwell Almshouse Trust incorporating The Reading Rooms

The Almshouses were originally built (1674) in the old town of Middleton under the Will of the late John Tregonwell of Anderson, Esq. dated 7th February1647. This made provision for “six Poor People of the said Town and Parish…” In the year 1779, during the period when the town was removed by the late Joseph Damer - the inhabitants being moved to the present site of Milton Abbas – Tregonwell’s Almshouses were carefully deconstructed and re-erected in their original shape and Jacobean design, just as you see them today.

The inscription over the central doorway reads: "Haec Sedes Senectatis Reaedificata Est Anno Domini 1779"

("These homes for the elderly were re-built in the Year of Our Lord 1779").

Following the sale of Milton Abbey Estates in 1932, the responsibility for the Almshouses became vested with the Charity Commission & in 1935 the Tregonwell Almshouse Trust (registered charity:205134) was formed. The Trust is administered by five Trustees and a Clerk who acts as the CEO, all are local persons who give their services without remuneration. Today, following a major restoration and refurbishment project carried out in 2008/9, there are four Almshouses being the homes to five Residents. The Almshouse Trust is registered as a Social Housing Provider (A0069) with the Homes and Community Agency (now the “Regulator of Social Housing”) and is also a member (308) of the National Almshouses Association.

The Reading Rooms form part of the Almshouse Trust and are leased to the village as a complex for community events and lettings. Administered by a Management Committee, on behalf of the Trust, the Reading Rooms comprise a large principal hall with a modern well-equipped kitchen and toilets (including disabled) on the ground floor with a small meeting room and an office upstairs – all are available for hire.

Contacts: Bookings Clerk – Anthea Battrick. Tel: 01258 269348. Email: [email protected]

Treasurer/General Manager/Clerk to Trustees  – David D - A. Tel: 01258 880481. Email: [email protected]