Powis Almshouses

Nothing is known of Thomas Powis' later life other than that, in 1716, he was a vintner in Enfield, Middlesex, and in his will gave £1,800 to establish an almshouse in Chepstow for twelve poor men and women.

The land for building the almshouses was acquired by its trustees in 1721 from the Duke of Montagu, and included the remains of a mediaeval hospital and cellar.

By 1923, considerable additional resources had been secured to run the Almshouse through the sale of farms that had been bought by the trustees from Thomas Lewis of St Pierre in 1727 as an investment.

[1][2] Thomas Powis' bequest also provided for a sermon to be given each year on 10 November, in St Mary's Priory Church.

[1] The building is described by architectural historian John Newman as "a delightfully artless and unspoilt ensemble... built of roughly squared local limestone.