In 1634 almshouses were built in St Mary's Butts, which were called 'St Mary's Almshouses'. The almshouses were built by Thomas Vachel. A plaque fixed on the building reads:
Sr. Thomas Vachel Kt. erected there Alms-Houses Anno Dom. 1634, and endow'd them with Forty Pounds p. Annum for ever for the Maintenance of Six Poor Men.
They were demolished in 1867 and replaced with new buildings at a new location in Castle Hill, with money coming from the sale of the land. The new almshouses were renamed Vachel Almshouses after Thomas Vachel. They were designed by architect William Henry Woodman. The Almshouses were modernised in 1960–62.