A historic almshouse built with Spanish Gold taken during the Golden Age of Piracy is looking for new residents – so long as they are local. Hutchens’ Almshouses in the hamlet of Paul just outside Mousehole is looking for people to move in, but you will need to have connections to the Penzance and Newlyn area to do so.
Elaine Bawden, a trustee of the Stephen Hutchens Trust and Almshouses, said: “As trustees of Hutchens’ House we maintain Captain Stephen Hutchen’s dying wish to provide accommodation for people who have lived in the area of Paul, Mousehole, Newlyn or Borough of Penzance for five years.
“The wording of his generous 1709 bequest may have altered to keep up with modern times, but the ethos remains the same…housing need replaces poverty as the main criterion for the occupation of the flats at Hutchens’ House. The importance of this wonderful Almshouse can never be underestimated and helps in a small way to address local housing needs for retired people with local connections who are able to live independently.”
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Hutchens’ House was built with pieces of eight taken by Captain Stephen Hutchens. As he lay dying in Jamaica in 1709, having just captured a ship, its crew, and its treasure – a prize capture of 20,000 pieces of eight – he remembered the village of his birth in his will, and left money to house and maintain ‘six of the poorest men and six of the poorest women living within the Parish of Paul’.
This was the time known as the Golden Age of Piracy (from roughly 1650 to 1730) when English and French seamen were attacking Spanish vessels as they returned from the New World laden with silver and gold. Eight days after signing that will, he died at the age of 40.
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Hutchens’ House was built and his will and wishes were carried out to this day. In 1968, the Charity Commission broadened the terms of Hutchens’ House to enable residents to apply from Newlyn and Penzance, as well as Mousehole and Paul.
In 1994, the property was refurbished. As a result, there are now six new flats for double occupancy, as well as separate warden’s accommodation and a common room. In 2007, the barns were converted into two additional homes. Hutchen House offers one bedroom flats suitable for single or double occupancy, together with heating and hot water, gardening, window cleaning, lunch provided by the warden six days a week, water supply, TV licence, external maintenance, and laundry facilities.
Elaine said that one of the main criteria for applying is that applicants need to have lived in the area of Paul, Mousehole, Newlyn or the Borough of Penzance for five years. She added: “We have single and double occupancy flats. Priority is given to retired applicants who have a local connection and are able to live independently. We currently have one flat available to rent – applications can be made via email to hornby01@aol.com.”