Inventory Site Record

Hickey's Almshouses were designed by architect Louis Vulliamy, a range of neo-Tudor style buildings with very high chimneys. At the front is a porter's lodge, built 1850-3 and substantial railings form the boundary with Sheen Road. A plaque over the entrance records that the almshouses were built 'for ten poor men and ten poor women by the bounty of William Hickey Esq. who by his Will bequeathed certain Lands and Houses in Richmond in Trust for Charitable Purposes'. Hickey (d.1728) is buried in the churchyard of Richmond Parish Church of St Mary. The almshouses are set back behind a large garden of lawns with a few trees. A central path leads from the entrance gate and continues around the perimeter, with some flowers planted inside the lodge entrance.

Site location:

Sheen Road/Grena Road/St Mary's Grove, Richmond

Postcode:

TW9

What 3 Words:

moons.courier.relax

Type of site:

Private Garden

Borough:

Richmond

Open to public?

Occasionally

Opening times:

private, visible from road. Has opened for London Open House and LGSW
Has taken part in Open Garden Squares Weekend 2 times, most recently in 2012.

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: North Sheen. Rail/London Overground/Tube (District): Richmond then bus. Bus:

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/06/2009

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.therichmondcharities.co.uk

When he died William Hickey left much property in Richmond, and by his will he not only provided for pensions of £4 per annum for 6 poor men and 10 poor women to be elected by his Trustees but also provided for payment to each of the almspeople at Bishop Duppa' Almshouses, which had been founded in 1661, of an additional pension of £1 per annum. A gift of Elizabeth Doughty was added to Hickey's Trust in 1822 and by 1832 the value of the charity enabled his Trustees to apply to buy a site and erect almshouses. Permission was granted and Hickey's almshouses were built on Sheen Road, comprising 20 homes, a chapel, nurses' lodge and porter's lodge. In 1851 four new almshouses were built on land belonging to the Trustees in Adelaide road. In 1972 an additional 12 one-bedroomed bungalows were built at the rear.

Sources consulted:

Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 2: South (Penguin) 1999; Richmond Charities' Almshouses notes, provided for Open Garden Squares Weekend, 2009

Grid ref:

TQ188751 (518857,175075)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

Richmond Charities' Almshouses

Site management:

Date(s):

1834

Designer(s):

Buildings: Louis Vulliamy

Listed structures:

LBII*: William Hickey's Almshouses

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

St Matthias and Sheen Road

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Hickey's Almshouses - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 29/05/09 09:55

Click a photo to enlarge.