Reynardson Almshouses

Reynardson Court

The name Reynardson has defined this spot on the High Road for almost 300 years. Today’s block of flats, set back from the High Road, was built in the early 1950s by Tottenham Borough Council. Naming it ‘Reynardson Court’ echoes the name of the old Reynardson almshouses that once stood here, making this site one that has provided social housing since 1737. (Almshouses being the oldest form of social housing with a history of over 1,000 years). It also became the focus of local need during World War Two, responding to Civil Defence and wartime resilience in Tottenham. 

(The front of some of the Reynardson almshouses. The chapel (seen here to the left of the photograph) was central to the scheme, with an equal number of little houses either side. The commemorative stone positioned above the main door to the chapel survives today at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive. This photograph was one of the last taken, as seen in February 1939. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Going back almost three centuries, the Reynardson almshouses for the poor of the parish took their name from its benefactor Nicholas Reynardson (1630-1685) of Tottenham. He is a shadowy figure. Very little is in fact known about what he did in his lifetime – with the exception of leaving £2,000 in his will to build and maintain the almshouses. 

More is known about his father, Sir Abraham Reynardson, (1590 – 1661). A wealthy merchant, he moved to a large manor house in Tottenham in 1639 (site of Philip Lane and Arnold Road today). He was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1648-49 at the start of the 11-year period of Republican rule for England (The Commonwealth: 1649-1660) and the Second English Civil War. His Royalist loyalty to outcast King Charles 1 brought him in conflict with the ‘Rump Parliament’. He was de-robed as Lord Mayor, imprisoned at the Tower of London for 2 months and fined. Refusing to pay his fine, his estate and personal items were seized at a cost to him of some £20,000 (over £2 million today).  

(Portrait of Sir Abraham Reynardson (1590 – 1661). From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Sir Abraham’s wealth, however. had been vast. A member and Master (in 1640) of the Merchant Taylors’ Company with many links with the mercantile City of London, he was also a member of the Levant Company, trading with the Ottoman Empire. His involvement with the East India Company from 1630 (and committee member from 1653-1656) helped ensure their profitable trade secured a firm hold in India and South East Asia, to exploit and bring goods back to England - fuelling the growing consumer culture in this country.

The East India Company went on to become one of the most dominant corporations in history, well known for its corruption, cruel excesses and powerful exploitation. It formed the base for colonialism to expand in India, acting as a ‘part-trade organisation, part-nation-state’ that would reap vast profits from overseas trade with India, China, Persia and Indonesia for more than two centuries. Its business flooded England with affordable tea, cotton textiles and spices, and richly rewarded its London investors with returns as high as 30 percent.’ Find out more about the East India Company.

The almshouses: 1736-1951

Although little is known about Nicholas Reynardson himself, it is presumed he and his siblings benefitted from his father’s remaining wealth when Sir Abraham died in 1661. Nicholas did not have any children and when he died in 1685, his estate went to his widow, Ann. 

It took quite a while for the almshouses to be built. And it almost did not happen. Three years’ legal wrangling following Ann’s death in 1727 saw the estate sold and the almshouse charity benefit from the £2,000. In 1730 Trustees began drafting a scheme to cover Reynardson’s wishes.

The plaque that once stood over the almshouses’ chapel doorway is on display in the Museum courtyard at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive. It remembers Nicholas Reynardson’s name and the date 1730. But it was not until 1737 that the almshouses finally opened after building was completed in 1736, some 50 years after the idea was first conceived! The little dwellings were built on wasteland given in 1735 by Henry Hare, 3rd Lord Coleraine of Bruce Castle. 

(This interior of the chapel for the almshouses, with its box pews, was amongst the last photographs taken, as seen in February 1939. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Eight two-storey ‘apartments’ were built for four poor women and four poor men ‘past their labours’. A central chapel was provided for daily prayers and also for the instruction of 20 local poor children. Each alms-person received £4 per year in quarterly payments, and a black gown each year. Many rich people in the district left money to these almshouses and as a result, they became the best endowed in Tottenham! 

Who lived in the almshouses?

Evidence of who lived at the almshouses until 1869 can be found in the minute books of the Trustees. The books survive at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive (one on display) and offer a little insight and a voice for who the residents were. There was high competition for places and applicants’ names and a little biography are recorded, whether they got a place or not. In 1794 the houses were occupied by William Drinkwater, Widow Gorton, William Oxhart, Widow Butler, Mary Boon, Widow Barrance, Widow Collins, and Benjamin Cox. By Victorian times male residents gave their past jobs as labourers, carpenters, wheelwrights, butchers, gardeners, cowkeepers woodsmen, coopers, shoemakers and tailors. The status of female residents is harder to establish – most are described as widows, some are domestics with one house-keeper. One Hephzibah Lattimore was a domestic – she said she had been a servant of the Hill family at Bruce Castle. She finally got a place in the almshouses in 1849 after her ninth application.  Two keys and a teapot from the almshouses survive and are on display at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive, acquired by the Museum in 1939.

The Tottenham Urban District Charity took over the almshouses in 1870. The almshouses remained standing well into the 20th century but the site was authorised for sale in 1938. Unsold in 1939 the land was acquired much later for development in 1951. 

Further resources

Research into the history of these almshouses was undertaken by Herbert Hawkes and published in 1980 by the Edmonton Hundred Historical Society: ‘The Reynardsons and Their Almshouses’.

Find out more about the history of other almshouses in Tottenham.

Before and After the Second World War

The land once occupied by Reynardson’s almshouses took on a very different role in the 1940s. Having been put up for sale in 1938, it remained unsold in 1939 with the onset of war. It was requisitioned for allotments and for a static water dam and surface air raid shelter used by the National Fire Service (NFS) during the Second World War. 

(The land of former Reynardson almshouses was given over to the war effort, for Civil Defence training and allotments during WW2. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

The NFS was stretched to the limit especially during the Blitz, relying on Fire and First Aid Posts manned by Civil Defence volunteers dotted around Tottenham. On this site training was delivered for these volunteers dealing with incendiary bombs dropped onto Tottenham by enemy aircraft. The volunteers were key players and their training was vital - being able to arrive quickly on the scene, armed with a manual stirrup water pump, and rapidly tackle small-scale fires from the incendiary bombs, prevented far worse devastation.

Further Resources

‘Haringey At War’ by Deborah Hedgecock and Robert Waite (Tempus, 2004)

Ghost sign

Facing Reynardson Court today, look up high on the building to the right-hand-side (south of the site) and you will see the remains of a ‘ghost sign’ - an old hand-painted advertising sign that has survived on a building for a long time. Although somewhat hard to decipher, the word ‘LINER’ is just legible suggesting this is an advertisement for a shipping company. A reminder of the way people once had to travel or send anything across the world. There are a number of ghost signs that survive today, some more readable than others. Look up high as you wander about. If you spot any, take a photograph. You can add and help to map ghost signs for Historic England.

(Ghost sign – nextdoor to Reynardson Court today. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)