 It was founded by Ann and Fletcher Partis for women "who had been left in reduced circumstances", and still provides accommodation, in 30 terraced houses set around three sides of a quadrangle, for women, aged over 50 in membership of the Church of England.In 1862, George Gilbert Scott redesigned the original chapel, which had been built by Goodrich.In the early 19th century the romantic Gothic Revival style appeared as a backlash to the symmetry of Palladianism, which brought certain changes to the city's appearance.