Thorngate Almshouse Trust was founded in 1868 by two Gosport families; the Thorngates and the Churchers.
Our history and heritage
Thorngate Churcher Trust was brought together in its present form in 1981 when a number of separate charities established by the Thorngate family in the 1860s were amalgamated. As early as 1794 a William Thorngate is listed as trading as a grocer in Middle Street (the old name of Gosport High Street).
William Thorngate’s sons, John Batty and his younger brother William, were local landowners. William also owned land jointly with Emanuel Churcher, a local solicitor who founded the Churchers legal practice in Gosport High Street. These three gentlemen conveyed land to the Trustees of the Thorngate Charities in 1866 and 1867 to enable almshouses to be built to accommodate poor women of good character, being spinsters or widows, of not less than 50 years of age.
A major redevelopment of the Trust’s properties was carried out between 1971 and 1984 and the accommodation offered today consists of modern well-equipped one-bedroom flats available to men and women.
Read our latest history book here