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| HER Number | MWB20206 |
|---|
| Record Type | Monument |
|---|
| Name | Site of St Bartholomew's Almshouses, Newtown Road, Newbury |
|---|
Summary
Location of a range of ten almshouses built in 1814 but destroyed by a German bomb dropped in 1943
Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status
- Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre
Monument Type(s):
- ALMSHOUSE (19th century to Second World War - 1814 AD to 1943 AD)
Full Description
A range of almshouses formerly existed on the east side of Fair Close, facing Newtown Road, at right angles to the Lower Raymond's Almshouses <1><2>. They were an endowment of the St Bartholomew's Charity, also known as New Court <3>. There were ten tenements, built in 1814 on the site of the old Cheese Fair, but the building was hit by bombs dropped from a German plane in February 1943 <4>. This attack killed several in the almshouses and also in the nearby Newbury Council school, as well as destroying the original St John's Church to the south. Photographs in West Berkshire Museum show the effect of the bombing <6>.
The site of the almshouses was subsequently used to provide a block of flats and a community centre, the Fair Close Day Centre <4>.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | Landmark. 1880-81. Digital OS Mapping Epoch 1, 1:500 - Newbury Town Plan. Digital. 1:500. Marked 'St Bartholomew's Almshouses'. [Map / SWB146990] |
| <02> | The Borough Museum, Newbury. 1973. Newbury Buildings Past and Present. p47. [Monograph / SWB12937] |
| <03> | Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1924. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks IV 1924. Vol 4. p152. [Monograph / SWB10281]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4 (Accessed 24/09/2015) |
| <04> | West Berkshire Museum. 2006. Heritage Guide No 8 - The Almshouses of Newbury. No 2. [Unpublished document / SWB148025] |
| <05> | Philpott, B. 1989. The Bombing of Newbury. [Monograph / SWB13977] |
| <06> | Museum Curator. Newbury Museum Accession Records (West Berkshire Museum since 1998). 2022 WBC Network. NEBYM:1979.72.201-2. [Unpublished document / SWB14452] |
| <07> | Borough of Newbury. 1946. Souvenir Programme - Victory Celebrations 8th, 9th, 10th June 1946. p15. [Unpublished document / SWB149259] |
Related Monuments
| MWB19869 | Fair Close Day Centre, Newtown Road, Newbury (Building) |
| MWB3472 | Lower Raymonds Almshouses, Newtown Road, Newbury (Building) |
| MWB20207 | Site of first St John the Evangelist's Church, Newtown Road, Newbury (Monument) |
| MWB20208 | Site of Newbury Council Schools, Newbury (Monument) |
| MWB20036 | St John's Memorial Garden, Newbury (Landscape) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
None recordedIf you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
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