128 BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM. 
items begin to appear which indicate that reparations were 
needed :— 
1701-2 Paid Joseph Rawbone his bill for ripping and new 
laying 30 square and 69 feet of plain tiling and for * 
repairing the tops of Chymneys, Hearths, and eG 
ing at the Almeshouses the last year... 424 19 3 
Paid Major George Heath his bill for stnbees w os 
done at Lewisham Almes Houses last year 530 Liga 
Paid Lettice Good for Bloigiers work done at Lame 
ham Almeshouses last year . Son eae We te tf 
we 
Other items occur occasionally as follows :— 
1726-27 Toa carpenter for work at the Alms Houses erm Si 18), 9) 
For glasiers work at the chappell sae ny, nee 15 0 
1730-31 Paid the Carpenters for pales at the Alms houses ... £4 19 0 
1755-50 Repairs at the Almshouses 
Mr. Baker, bricklayer 6.3756 
,, Corbett, carpenter 12) 2a 
5, Saint, glasier Bri ie heas 
Nothing further seems to have been required until 1790-91, 
when evidently extensive work had to be undertaken, since a sum 
of £205 was paid to Messrs, Corbett & Co., carpenters and brick- 
layers, ‘‘ for repairing almshouses at Lewisham as per estimate of 
Richard Norris,” the latter receiving a payment as surveyor of £10. 
It will not be necessary to follow all the repairs executed 
during the 19th century, but it may be recorded that in the course 
of some work done about 1860 the two oval windows in the chapel 
were bricked up. They still appear as retaining their glass in 
photographs of 1856. 
During the last few years at least £200 was spent upon cpa 
buildings in order to try and keep them standing, but at last, 
1905, the sanitary authorities stepped in and ordered them to fe 
closed. Estimates of the work required to put the houses into 
thorough repair, together with a sum to clear off past liabilities, 
amounted to £870, and it seemed as though the old almshouses 
must disappear. <A strong wish was expressed locally that some- 
thing should be done to save these picturesque remnants of the 
fast- ‘vanishing Lewisham of the past, and a public enquiry was 
held. After considering the matter the Leathersellers’ Company 
offered to be responsible for £470 if the remainder could be pro- 
vided by the people of Lewisham. Of the £400 thus required 
£200 was forthcoming from certain funds known as Herbage 
Rents, and the remaining 4200 was raised by subscription. The 
work of reparation was carried out by Messrs. A. J. Staines & Co., 
under the superintendence of Horace Porter, Esq., surveyor to the 
Leathersellers’ Company, who is to be congratulated on having 
so admirably preserved the ancient appearance of the buildings. 
The property fronting the High Street, from and including the 
ground where the almshouses are built to about half the frontage 
of the Infirmary, was purchased at various dates by the Rev. 
Ghent 
we ee 
