Behind every door lies a story. Through everygarden gate, a community.
For centuries, The City of Wells Almshouses have provided more than shelter -
they've unlocked the door to dignified living and peaceful community gardens where neighbours become family.
There are five Almshouse buildings in the City of Wells, providing 33 units of accommodation for older people in housing need. There is a mix of one-bedroom flats and cottages, on two sites in the centre of the city; on Priest Row and at the back of St Cuthbert's Churchyard. The earliest of the five almshouses was founded in the fifteenth century through a legacy provided from the estate of the former Bishop of Bath and Wells and Treasurer to King Henry IV, Nicholas Bubwith. Bubwith’s Almshouse backs onto Chamberlain Street but the entrances are in St Cuthbert’s Churchyard and Priest Row. Bubwith’s Almshouse includes a chapel and Guild room.
In the early seventeenth century an alderman of the city, Henry Llewellyn, left a legacy to build a further series of almshouses, on a separate site in Priest Row, to the east of St Cuthbert’s Church. More accommodation was provided through legacies from Bishop Still and Bishop Willes and in 1637 the Bubwith site was expanded again through a legacy from Walter Brick, a burgess of the city.
The almshouse buildings have been rebuilt many times in their history but are still known by the people of Wells as Bubwith’s, Still’s, Brick’s, Willes’ and Llewellyn’s.
For more information about the beautiful City of Wells please visit the Wells City Council website. Click Here.
History
The Almshouses in The City of Wells span several centuries of English history (from the early 15th-century Medieval origins of Bubwith’s to the Georgian period). Visitors and residents alike appreciate how these buildings reflect the evolving architectural tastes and charitable social structures of their respective eras.
Heritage, Trust, and Continuity
Welcome to space dedicated to the Residents
Information, Activities and Individual Contributions
Our Values
At its heart, the City of Wells Almshouses Charitable Trust is built on values of compassion, dignity, and community. The Trust exists to provide affordable, secure housing for older people — typically single individuals over the age of 50 with a local connection to Wells — who might otherwise struggle to find suitable accommodation.
The emphasis is not simply on providing a roof, but on fostering a genuine sense of belonging, independence, and mutual support among residents. In this way the modern Trust carries forward the original spirit of its founders: caring for those in need while allowing them to live with self-respect.
Compassion, Dignity and Community
News & Events
At its heart, the City of Wells Almshouses Charitable Trust is built on values of compassion, dignity, and community. The Trust exists to provide affordable, secure housing for older people.
These enduring values find quiet but powerful expression in the care lavished upon the community gardens, which are far more than mere green spaces. Tended with affection and shared by residents, the gardens are living emblems of the Trust's belief in dignity, companionship, and wellbeing — places where neighbours meet, where nature offers comfort, and where the sense of belonging that lies at the heart of the almshouses is gently nurtured season after season.
