Almshouse

An almshouse is a form of charitable housing that developed in medieval Europe to provide long-term accommodation for people unable to support themselves, most often the elderly or disabled. It grew out of earlier hospital foundations associated with Christian charity and had become a distinct kind of institution by the later medieval period, typically housing small numbers of residents rather than the larger, more transient populations found in hospitals; almshouses existed across Europe, but their development is most fully documented in England, where they formed part of a wider system of poor relief alongside other charitable and parish-based support.