Dyers' Hall

The Worshipful Company of Dyers received its royal charter in 1471, but the profession had a presence in the City of London from the late 12th century. The company's first almshouse dated from 1545, when Robert Tyrwhitt gave the company a messuage in London. Over the next 200 years, another 25 houses were built across London. In 1840, a group of 26 almshouses were built in Islington in North London to replace these older buildings. Before World War II, Crawley was a slowly growing market town based around a north–south High Street. Beyond the buildings fronting the road, ancient fields and allotments survived. Towards the north end of the street, a footpath ran southeastwards between…

W.H. Hatchard-Smith but most of their work was architecturally unassuming: New Town buildings were typically "run-of-the-mill, curtain-walled ... [with] a reassuring uniformity with nothing regimented about it". Accordingly, the almshouses stand out: they have large and ornate brick chimney-stacks, steep roofs reaching nearly to ground level, deep tile-hung gables and stock brick walls in two shades of red (darker brick is used around the windows). Heavy Tudor-style oak doors with iron door furniture survive. Some of the iron drainpipes from the old almshouses at Islington were apparently recovered when they were sold and were reinstated on the new buildings: several bear the date 1852. The…