Memorials of Shrewsbury / being a concise description of the town and its environs, adapted as a general guide for the information of visitors and residents

by Henry Pidgeon

ST. CHAD’S ALMSHOUSES

adjoin the cemetery of Old St. Chad’s, and were erected in 1409 by Bennett Tipton, a public brewer, who lived in the College, and died in 1424. The allowance to the eleven poor occupants, “decayed old men and women,” arises chiefly from a benefaction of £180 by David Ireland, alderman of the town, and Catharine his wife; which is now commuted to a rent charge of £8 on the Lythwood estate, the proprietor of which nominates the alms-folk. Previous to the Reformation the poor people received one penny a-week from the Mercers’ Company, since which time the whole annual payment of the Company has been only two shillings and two pence.