At the end of Church Path, where Church Lane leads into Vestry Road in Walthamstow, there is a small row of almshouses to the west of St Mary’s Churchyard. They were built and endowed in 1795 by Mary Squire of Newington in Surrey to provide accommodation for six poor widows of tradesmen. A plaque at the centre of the building reads: These Houses are / Erected and Endowed / For Ever / By Mrs. Mary Squires Widow / for the Use of / Six Decayed Tradesmens Widows / of this Parish and no other. Anno Domini 1795 The plaque on the front of the almshouses The almshouses comprised six single rooms each supplied with a bedstead, stove and large water tub. Each resident received an annual pension of £5, later increased by a further £8, and they were allowed to supplement this by taking small washing and starching jobs, although hanging laundry outside the property was forbidden.