368 High Street, Lewisham, SE13 6LQ

Colfe's Almshouses opened around 1664. They had been built by the Leathersellers Company, which had been bequeathed money by Revd Abraham Colfe, the Vicar of Lewisham until his death in 1657.

The terrace of almshouses provided accommodation for "six poor, godly householders of the parish, 60 years of age or upwards, and able to say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments". The larger central portion of the block contained a chapel, flanked on either side by three almshouses. (The line drawing on the top of the Lewisham Parochial and Almshouse Charities webpage illustrates the almshouses.)

In 1944, during WW2 (1939-1945) the buildings were damaged by a V1 rocket, which had fallen on the adjacent Lewisham Hospital.

In 1952 the almshouse charity funds of Colfe's bequest were amalgamated with those of Hatcliffe's Almshouses.

Current status

The almshouses were demolished in 1958. Their site is now occupied by the parking lot in front of the Register Office.

In 1652 Abraham Colfe had founded a grammar school which still bears his name. After his death the Leathersellers Company took over the school.

N.B. Photographs obtained in July 2020

Colfe's Almshouses