Records of the Sunninghill Parochial Charities

D/QX22: Sunninghill Parish and Charities, 1671-1975

CPC126/16/1: Deeds of the Parish Trust Estate in Sunninghill and Winkfield and in Chobham (Surrey), 1665-1831

(Includes documents from 1671 onwards relating to the earlier charities which were amalgamated into the one trust in 1894.)

The Sunninghill Parochial Charities is a single trust, created from the amalgamation of a number of smaller Sunninghill charities by a Charity Commission Scheme of 1894. These charities included the Edward Lane bequest, the Elizabeth Squire bequest, the Anne Palmer bequest, the Ann Dawson bequest, the John Stables bequest, and the parish trust estate.

The 1894 incorporation excluded the Sunninghill Fuel Allotment charity, which continues as a separate organisation (see D/QX22).

In the first half of the twentieth century, as well as providing for the parish almshouses, grants were made to provident clubs, for the provision of warm clothing for older people and towards the support of people suffering from sickness and infirmity. From about 1959 the charity obtained a variation through a Charity Commission scheme to enable it to focus on the management of its almshouses and the support of their residents. It then became a member of the Almshouses Association.

By 2020, the charity owned and maintained properties and grounds at 55 Cheapside Road, Ascot and 5?11 Victoria Road, South Ascot, with the objective to provide subsidised housing ?for local elderly and needy people of good character and limited resources?. The charity is controlled by a Board of Trustees, including the priest in charge of St Michael & All Angels Church, Sunninghill, an appointee from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Council, and usually six others.

The original charities

The Edward Lane bequest: founded by will proved in 1732, whereby the testator charged all the tithes within the liberty of Coworth with 40s. a year for the poor.

The Elizabeth Squire bequest: founded by will proved in 1734, for a legacy to the poor, (by an annual charge on land at Winkfield).

The Anne Palmer bequest: founded by indentures of 23 and 24 March 1749, for an annual gift of £50 for bread.

The Ann Dawson bequest: a trust fund founded by will in 1831, for the provision of blankets and warm clothing.

The John Stables bequest: founded by will proved in 1863, a trust fund for the provision of warm clothing.

The parish trust estate: acquired partly through grants or purchases over many years and partly by allotments under the Inclosure Act consisting of land, a cottage and garden at Cheapside, Sunninghill, four cottages and land in Sunninghill Bog.