Robert Palmer’s Almshouse Charity

The cottages were built by Robert Palmer of Holme Park, Sonning, in 1850. The charity was established by Miss Susanna Caroline Palmer in 1877 under the terms of Robert Palmer’s will to house six elderly or infirm poor persons who had been resident in the ancient parish of Sonning for 2 years or more. Preference was given to former employees of the Holme Park estate and their widows.

The present era of the almshouses started in 1981 with the setting up of the current registered charity, The Robert Palmer’s Almshouse Charity, with a set of rules authorised by the Charity Commission.

The Charity registered as a Provider of Social Housing in 1981 and took the benefit of both a grant and a loan from the Housing Corporation to modernise the cottages and to add rear extensions containing kitchens and/or bathrooms. The loan was repaid and Charity deregistered as a Provider of Social Housing in 2013.