Almshouse in the context of Mann family

A yamen (ya-men; traditional Chinese: 衙門; simplified Chinese: 衙门; pinyin: yámén; Wade–Giles: ya-men; Manchu: ᠶᠠᠮᡠᠨyamun) was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China, Korea, and Vietnam. In some places, such as Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, it was named as almshouse. A yamen can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of government: the offices of one of the Six Ministries is a yamen, but so is a prefectural magistracy. The term has been widely used in China for centuries, but appeared in English during the Qing dynasty.

51°29′11″N 0°9′28″W / 51.48639°N 0.15778°W / 51.48639; -0.15778The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II in 1682, it is a 66-acre (27 ha) site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, London. It is an independent charity and relies partly upon donations to cover day-to-day running costs to provide care and accommodation for veterans.

Residents are known as Chelsea Pensioners. The gardens of the Royal Hospital are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed arches, rib vaults, buttresses, and extensive use of stained glass. Combined, these features allowed the creation of buildings of unprecedented height and grandeur, filled with light from large stained glass windows. Important examples include Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. The Gothic style endured in England much longer than in Continental Europe.

The Gothic style was introduced from France, where the various elements had first been used together within a single building at the choir of the Abbey of Saint-Denis north of Paris, completed in 1144. The earliest large-scale applications of Gothic architecture in England were Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Many features of Gothic architecture had evolved naturally from Romanesque architecture (often known in England as Norman architecture). The first cathedral in England to be both planned and built entirely in the Gothic style was Wells Cathedral, begun in 1175. Other features were imported from the Ile-de-France, where the first French Gothic cathedral, Sens Cathedral, had been built (1135–64). After a fire destroyed the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, the French architect William of Sens rebuilt the choir in the new Gothic style between 1175 and 1180. The transition can also be seen at Durham Cathedral, a Norman building which was remodelled with the earliest surviving rib vault. Besides cathedrals, monasteries, and parish churches, the style was used for many secular buildings, including university buildings, palaces, great houses, and almshouses and guildhalls.

Walthamstow Village is the oldest part of Walthamstow, east London. It was designated a Conservation Area by the London Borough of Waltham Forest in 1967, and another Conservation Area on nearby Orford Road was subsequently added. The area centres on St. Mary's Church, which was founded in the 12th century. Across the road from this is a 15th-century timber-framed hall house called "The Ancient House", which was restored in 1934 and 2002. Nearby are almshouses dating from the 16th and 18th centuries, and the Vestry House Museum, which has been used as a workhouse and police station, but has been a museum since 1931. It also holds the archives of the borough and a local studies library.

Orford Road, the ancient road leading up to St Mary's church, has in recent years developed as a street of small restaurants, cafes and a local supermarket. There are also several pubs in the area.