Dame Paulet's Almshouses
Dame Paulet's Almshouses were established by Dame Elizabeth Paulet near the marketplace of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in 1593 to provide accommodation and support for five elderly, poor women of the town. The almshouse ceased to be used for accommodation in 1871–72, with the women moved into new houses. The structure was afterwards used as a post office and weights and measures office before falling derelict. The remains were demolished in 1974 when Coopers Square shopping precinct was built. A doorway from the 1593 structure survives and is preserved in an external wall of Primark. Foundation Elizabeth Blount was born in Burton upon Trent, where her family was prominent. Her parents were the M.P. Walter Blount of Nether Hall, Burton and later of Blount's Hall, Staffordshire, and his wife Margaret or Mary. Her first marriage was to Anthony Beresford of Thorpe, Derbyshire. She then married Sir Thomas Pope, a wealthy landowner who founded Trinity College, Oxford. Pope's death left Elizabeth a rich widow and she afterwards married Sir Hugh Paulet. She died in 1593 and was buried, with Thomas Pope and his second wife Margaret, in a tomb she had built in the chapel at Trinity College. In 1593 Elizabeth,