| Date | 29 November 2013 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0060 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
New workhouse built but some do not want to move
IN the second of two articles, we look at the later history of the Windsor Workhouse. In September 1835, the Windsor Poor Law Union was formed. This institution was run by an elected guardianship.
The Union was divided up into areas which included Clewer, New Windsor with Dedworth, Old Windsor and Sunninghill. New Windsor was allocated five guardians on to the board. The Windsor Union was the last of the unions to be founded in Berkshire.
A new workhouse was built in Old Windsor between 1832-1834.
It was built to the design of the architects George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt at a cost in the region of £10,014 (£361 for the site, £7,080 for the building, and £2,573 for furniture etc.). Scott and Moffatt were responsible for many workhouses across the country. The nearest being High Wycombe. The Old Windsor Workhouse was built to accommodate 282 inmates. The building work was carried out by the Windsor firm of Bedborough and Jenner.
The building consisted of a long main block running north – south, with two pairs of cross wings to create a double cruciform layout. Women and men had separate accommodation; women to the north and men to the south.
There was also a 50-bed infirmary to the rear of the building. Further extensions were added in the later 19th century, including a new infirmary block and a ward especially for casuals or tramps, associated with a row of cells for the breaking of stones.
The inmates of the Sheet Street Workhouse in central Windsor were transferred to the new building in Old Windsor in October 1840. Their removal to Old Windsor did not go very smoothly. It was reported that ‘several manifested a disposition not to be removed, and one poor man resolutely refused to be taken, except by force’.
The workhouse was visited by Prince Albert and later by Queen Victoria in 1864 who spent 90 minutes inspecting the wards, chapel and boardroom. At the turn of the century, the workhouse was known as Crimp Hill House and then later became the Old Windsor Unit of the Edward VII hospital.
The hospital closed in 1991 and has since been converted into desirable residential accommodation.
DIFFICULT TRANSITION: Windsor Union Work House in 1841. A similar view of the workhouse in 1995 before conversion into flats.
Images
