The mysterious blue doors in London which hide an 1800s asylum

Photographer Jim Grover has documented the fascinating history of the Trinity Homes Almshouse(Picture: Jim Grover)

Jim Grover had often wondered what lay behind the blue doors on Brixton’s busy Acre Lane in London. They seemed to always be shut, yet the flickering of lights and fleeting shadows in windows suggested there was some sort of presence. 

The social documentary photographer had stumbled upon the building while researching almshouses – charitable homes provided for the ‘financially needy’ – in the area. Originally called hospitals or bede houses, the concept dates back to the medieval times.

And the property with the blue doors was one of them. 

Jim had become hooked on finding out more about this Brixton almshouse, so made it his mission to find a way to get through the doors so he could take a peek inside. 

Pouring over archive material to piece together the history of the building, his first clue were the words ‘THOMAS BAILEY’ in old lettering above one of the windows sat next to the entrance, with ‘TRINITY HOMES’ emblazoned above another.

‘I’ve always wanted to find a way to explore an almshouse,’ Jim tells Metro.co.uk from his home in Clapham.

The almshouse, one of three in Brixton, is situated on the busy Acre Lane in the heart of Brixton (Picture: Jim Grover)

Trinity Asylum was for ‘pious aged women’; it was not a mental asylum (Picture: Jim Grover)

‘I’ve always been intrigued to know what it’s like. To what extent are they a community? How do you get to become a resident? 

‘So when I was told there was this amazing Georgian almshouse on Acre Lane in Brixton, I needed to know what was going on behind those doors.’

Through ‘detective work’, Jim discovered that the almshouse was built in 1822 and that £2,000 – around £275,000 in today’s money – was given by Thomas Bailey, a Brixton resident, two years later. There are several entrances to the, now, 18-room building, all with blue doors.

Bailey was an incredibly successful china and glass merchant and also very devoted to God. He christened the almshouse the ‘Trinity Asylum’. However, it wasn’t for the mentally ill, as many might believe, but instead a simple sanctuary for ‘pious [religious] aged women.’ 

Criteria for entry was very strict. Applicants had to have a small income, provide references that proved their religious faith, be single – and, most specifically, aged between 57 and 67.  

One of those women was Margaret Wright, who had fallen on hard times. She had lived on just £25 a year – less than £4,000 a year in today’s money – in Faversham, Kent. With nowhere else to go, the 61-year-old had begged for a place at the Trinity Asylum. 

The 1879 letter to Trinity Asylum from Margaret Wright (Picture: Jim Grover)

‘I have no home to go to’, wrote Margaret in an application letter in 1879. ‘I have no relations except my sisters who are in great need themselves and cannot give me a home. I do hope it might please God to grant that I may soon be admitted to the asylum.’ 

Margaret lived in Apartment 15 for 31 years, until her death at the age of 92 in 1914. 

Today, the Trinity Homes almshouse is still being used to house women who require additional financial support – although men were added to their remit in 1996. The facility, run by a live-in warden called Andrew Taylor, is now home to 17 residents and one cat.

Jim connected with a trustree and, over several months, got to know some of the people who lived in the building. He discovered their stories ahead of a new photo exhibition, to be held at Lambeth Archives from April 19 to June 1.

‘I’m in my sixties,’ Jim says. ‘And I’m inspired by these people in their seventies and eighties doing so much in their life and in their community. They have really joyful, inspiring stories.

‘We all think we lead very ordinary lives. But I’ve learned that everyone’s life is extraordinary. My role as a documentary photographer is to tease that extraordinary aspect out of people, and  to make them proud of what they’ve done.’

Christine Holding became a resident in 2004 (Picture: Jim Grover)

Andrew Taylor; warden of Trinity Homes (Picture: Jim Grover)

Jim took photos of 72-year-old Wallee McDonnell, who had lived at Trinity Homes since 2018. ‘I was homeless.  I’d never had my own place… my own front door with a key’. Wallee donated a kidney to a friend in 2007 and his volunteer work with the Community Interest Company, Celebrate Life, earned him a nomination in the 2024 Lambeth Civic Awards.

Jim also spoke with Christine Holding, now 76, who retired from full-time work in 2020 at the age of 72 and is about to volunteer at her local GP surgery. Her mum had lived at Trinity Homes for 20 years. Christine told him: ‘I’ve worked all my life…42 years…I’ve got to be doing something…I love meeting people.’

He met with Guy Hunting too, a 78-year-old who once worked as a footman at Buckingham Palace, and Peter Avery, 84, who became the first male resident of Trinity Homes back in 1996. Guy told Jim: ‘People aren’t here by choice, some are here for unfortunate reasons – by “force majeure”. But some are great fun.’

The idea of an almshouse may seem like something out of a Dickens novel rather than a fixture of the 21st century. But with sky-rocketing rents and the struggle young people face in becoming first-time-buyers, they have become a very real prospect for people struggling to make ends meet.

‘There’s a view that almshouses are one part of the solution to the social housing crisis,’ explains Jim. ‘They were recently described as the unsung heroes of UK social housing.

‘And they are growing in number. There are around 2000 almhouses in the country, with two new ones in South London recently. So they are quite topical, and there is a relevance here in understanding their role and how they work.

Today Trinity Homes is a registered charity, is administered by a group of voluntary trustees and the buildings are Grade II listed (Picture: Jim Grover)

‘I want people to understand what they can offer in society right now, where housing and poverty are a real issue for many people.’

Trinity Homes has been a key part of Brixton’s history for 200 years, yet thousands have walked past the blue doors on Acre Lane not realising the hidden history they hold.

In a bid to change that, Jim’s new exhibition ‘Behind the Blue Doors’, starting on April 19 at the Lambeth Archives Facility in Brixton, will bring together photos, archive material and stories he has collected. His mission? To ‘make the unseen seen’.

Jim adds: ‘I’d like people to learn more about the amazing people who happened to live in the almshouse I’ve documented. I’d love for them to be inspired by the rich lives these individuals are leading in what people would regard as their “older age”. 

‘And if you live in Brixton, I’d love people to visit and think “wow, I had no idea we had this great story here.”

Behind the Blue Doors takes place at Lambeth Archives, 16 Brixton Hill, 19 April-1 June 2024, free to attend. For those unable to visit Jim’s exhibition, a selection of content will be available on his website from April 19, as well as a new book.  

To find out more, click here.