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Trinity (as the locals call it) is a group of almshouses entered through iron gates from Hospital Lane.  Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, built it in 1614, its purpose to provide charitable accommodation for twelve old men of good character.  They wore a livery gown of blue emblazoned with a red and silver badge.  On Sundays top hats were worn and the men were taken to church by horse drawn carriage. The rules were changed some years ago to allow married couples to occupy some of the larger cottages.  It is well worth a visit to view the gardens that are spectacular in Spring and Summer, and to visit the small chapel.  A recent addition has been a statue by a local artist of two well known past inhabitants

 Henry Howard (1540-1614) endowed two other similar almshouses in the same period (1613-1614) one at Shotesham in Norfolk where he was born, and one at Greenwich that has close associations with the Howard family.  All were called Trinity and the Greenwich Trinity was rebuilt in 1812 in the Gothic style and is currently causing much debate because there are plans to build a five-storey block in the grounds.

Why did Henry Howard at the end of his life decide to endow three establishments for the poor?  Some say it was guilt, and the answer may lay in his involvement in the Sir Thomas Overbury affair.  Henry Howard was a member of the powerful Howard family.  His father was the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, executed on a trumped-up charge of treason in 1547,  probably because he always boasted of his descent from Edward I.  His eldest son Thomas became 4^th Duke of Norfolk and was executed in 1571 because of his involvement in planning the dethronement of Elizabeth I (the Ridolfi affair).  .Henry Howard was himself imprisoned (1583-85) on the suspicion of heresy and treason.  However on the accession of James I our Henry gradually worked his way up to a position of power – privy councilor (1603), Earl of Northampton (1604), Lord Privy Seal (1612) and then principal minister.  However he was a Howard through and through, and all Howards were power brokers. 

Marriages in the 17^th century among the nobility were not always made in heaven.  This was certainly the case when the beautiful 13-year-old Frances Howard, great niece of Henry Howard and the instigator of the union, was married to the 14-year-old Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, son of Elizabeth I’s favourite.  The marriage was a mistake and the consequences disastrous.  Frances was unhappy with dull Robert Devereux and fell in love with Robert Carr, the King’s favourite.  Determined to marry Carr she tries to gain a divorce by declaring her husband impotent.  She even visits an alchemist to obtain potions to administer to her husband (to kill him off?).  When Carr’s friend Sir Thomas Overbury discovers what she is doing he threatens to expose her.    With Uncle Henry’s help, Frances gets Overbury imprisoned in the Tower and there proceeds by various foul means to poison him and succeeds.  There is no reason to believe that Henry Howard was aware of what Frances was up to.  Indeed it is believed that in endowing the three almshouse Henry was paying penance for his complicity in the plot.  Frances and Robert Carr stood trial for Overbury’s murder, were found guilty and sentenced to death.    Accomplices were hanged but it came as no surprise when James pardoned both Frances and Robert Carr.   The Thomas Overbury Affair was the greatest scandal of 17th century England featuring a heady mix of adultery, murder and necromancy and has been described as "one of the most sensational crimes in English History.    More information