Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people (typically elderly people who can no longer work to earn enough to pay rent) to live in a particular community. They are often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of previous employment, or their widows, and are generally maintained by a charity or the trustees of a bequest.

Many almshouses were European Christian institutions though some are secular [1]. Alms are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed folk. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan; the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, dating to about 1132. In the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses.

Almshouses have been created throughout the period since the 10th century, up to the present day. Many of the medieval almshouses in England were established with the aim of benefiting the soul of the founder or their family, and they usually incorporated a chapel. As a result, most were regarded as chantries and were dissolved during the Reformation, under an act of 1547. Religion is less important now than it was in Mediaeval times and the Christian side of almshouses no longer applies to all voluntary sector housing, some maintain a Christian tradition. Almshouses tend to be characterised by their charitable status and by the aim of supporting the continued independence of their residents.

Nicholas Chamberlaine (1632 – 14 July 1715) was a priest in the Church of England who was known for his charitable donations.

Nicholas Chamberlaine was born in 1632 in Whitnash, south of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. His family were the Chamberlaines of Astley, Warwickshire. In 1662 he was appointed vicar of Leek Wootton near Warwick and he married Elizabeth Green, but she died shortly afterwards. In February 1664 he moved to Bedworth to become the rector. He remained rector for 51 years until his death, and he helped to establish stability in the area after the English Civil War. Chamberlaine bought land in Bedworth and became the parish squire. He died 14 July 1715.

Chamberlaine's will provided for a local school for boys and a school for girls in the same building, for local almshouses for poor people from the Church of England, for apprenticehips for poor children, and for a number of other provisions. In Bedworth the Nicholas Chamberlaine's Almshouses and a modern school the Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College are named after him.