Identification and description | |||||||
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Name | THURGARTON HUNDRED WORKHOUSE | ||||||
Location |
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Localisation | Latitude: 53.080619 Longitude: -0.93951725 National Grid Reference: SK 71135 54236 Map: Download a full scale map (PDF) |
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Overview | Heritage Category: Park and Garden Grade: II* List Entry Number: 1001591 Date first listed: 13-Feb-2002 |
The grounds of an early C19 workhouse opened in 1824, designed by the architect William
Nicholson following instructions from the Rev John Thomas Becher. Its deterrent system
was widely disseminated, being published by Becher in The Anti-Pauper System (1828)
together with a plan of the layout, and both the system and plan became influential
on other workhouses.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
In 1808 a workhouse was erected in Southwell for eighty-four pauper residents of the
parish. It had been designed by the Rev John Thomas Becher of Southwell, and was,
as Becher maintained, 'constructed and governed upon a principle of Inspection, Classification,
and Seclusion' (Becher 1828). In 1824 the parish became part of the newly formed Thurgarton
Hundred Incorporation, comprising forty-nine parishes around Southwell. The general
intention was to operate a deterrent system of institutional care modelled on that
of Southwell, based on strict economy and supervision 'tempered with tenderness towards
the Infirm and Guiltless Poor, but opposing by every legal effort the overwhelming
Advances of idle, profligate, and sturdy Pauperism' (ibid); in other words, to deter
the pauper population from becoming a financial burden on the rate payers. To accomplish
this a larger workhouse was erected within its own spacious grounds at Upton, on the
outskirts of Southwell. Designed by Becher, assisted by a local architect, William
Nicholson, it cost £6596 and could hold 158 paupers. It became an important forerunner
of the radially planned workhouses erected as a result of the passing of the New Poor
Law (1834).
The Upton Enclosure map (1795) shows a series of roughly rectangular plots laid out
parallel on an island surrounded by three roads. The Workhouse and its immediate grounds
subsequently occupied the westernmost of these plots, approximately 6a (2.5ha). Sanderson's
plan (1835) shows the Workhouse, its yards, and service buildings occupying the centre
of the plot, with an axial drive leading from Southwell Road north-east to the centre
of the south-west front of the building, and with a further path indicated leading
north-east on the same line, from the north-east side of the building to Normanton
Road. An inventory of 1837 stated that the field on which the Workhouse stood comprised
6a 0r 26p (c 2.5ha), and that on the south side of the building approximately 1a 2r
0p of land (c 0.5ha) were cultivated by the spade for the use of those in the 'house'.
Some 2 acres (c 0.8ha) of the remaining land to the south was laid to grass and let
out. The land to the north of the Workhouse was cultivated 'by the spade for potatoes
for the use of the House' (National Trust 1999). The male paupers undertook most of
the work on the land. In the 1834 edition of his pamphlet, Becher advocated that the
paupers should undertake tasks such as 'Spade Husbandry, dibbling seed corn, weeding,
or any similar occupations; all which should be executed as Taskwork, by the Piece'.
A wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops were grown, as listed in the accounts
of 1825 (NRO), and included box plants for edging. Milk cows also appear to have been
kept.
The site continued in use during the rest of the C19 and early C20, becoming a residential
home for the elderly in the 1950s; this was closed in the late C20. The site was purchased
by the National Trust in 1997, and has undergone major restoration prior to opening
to the public in 2002.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING The c 2.5ha site lies 1.5km east of
the centre of Southwell on the north side of the main A612 Southwell to Newark road.
The site falls gently from north to south towards the River Greet which runs close
to the south of the site. The north-east side is bounded by Greet House, a residential
home built in 1926 as a new infirmary occupying part of the former gardens of the
Workhouse, and to the north of this by the road to Normanton. To the north-west it
is bounded by a lane linking the Southwell to Newark Road with Normanton Road, and
to the south-east by the grounds of Caudwell House, a children's home (1937) set in
a block of land which was probably formerly used as agricultural land by the Workhouse.
The south side of the site is bounded by the A612. Most of the boundary is marked
by a clipped hedge. The setting is rural, with close by to the north-west the grounds
of The Hall, whose south-east shelter belt of trees partially screens the Workhouse
site. Views extend north-west towards The Hall and its grounds, south-west towards
Southwell and its Minster, and south and south-east towards distant low hills.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The site is approached from the south-west off the A612 via
a pedestrian gateway (replaced 2001) at the south-west tip of the site, giving access
from Southwell and Newark. From here a path leads north-east through a newly created
(2001) car park, then across the centre of a field towards the centre of the south-west
front of the main building. Some 50m south-west of the main building the path is flanked
by a clipped beech hedge which divides the field from an area of orchard lying adjacent
to the building and yards. The path arrives at the central entrance to the Workhouse
building, flanked by two brick walls of the first-class male and female paupers' exercise
yards arranged in such a way as to funnel the path in to the front door. The building
is approached via a short flight of stone steps leading to the stone-clad front doorcase.
This was the original entrance for the governing committee and governor and other
important visitors. It appears that formerly there may have been a wall or fence enclosing
the area immediately in front of the main entrance, linking the walls of the exercise
yards and thus creating a small forecourt (OS 1898, 1915).
Two further entrances, off the lane to the north-west, give access to the northern
end of the site and the service yards on the north-east side of the main building.
The southern entrance off the lane gives access to two entrances in the brick wall
at the north corner of the north-west yard, and at the east corner of the south-east
yard, these having been designed for use by the pauper women and men respectively.
These entrances into the service yards became disused at some point in the C19 (plan,
in Becher 1828; OS 1898), and they have recently (2001) been reopened. It appears
that the approach for paupers was intended from the early C19 (Sanderson, 1835) to
have been along this lane or off Normanton Road, rather than via the central path.
The northern entrance off the lane provides access into a later, outer service yard
dividing the service range adjacent to the main building from the 1926 infirmary known
as Greet House to the north-east. This yard is bounded to the north-west by a stable
and mortuary block of the 1920s, the 1820s' service range to the south-west, the 1871
Infirmary to the south-east, and Greet House (1926) to the north-east.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING Thurgarton Hundred Workhouse (listed grade II*) stands towards
the centre of the site. Built in 1824 to a design by the Rev Becher, assisted by the
architect William Nicholson, it comprises three storeys with cellar, of red brick.
Three ranges emanate from a central octagonal hub which contains the committee room
on the ground floor, and the accommodation for the governor on the first and second
floors. The windows of the committee room and governor's apartment in the hub overlook
the four separate exercise yards on the south-west front, aiding inspection. The central
position of these rooms also meant that the governor had equal access to the three
wings which were assigned to men (south-east), women (north-west) and children (north-east).
Within their accommodation men and women were divided into first- and second-class
inmates as defined by Becher: respectively those of 'good character and conduct' (in
practice the elderly) and those deemed 'idle, immoral and improvident' (in practice
the able-bodied). The accommodation for each class included day rooms (ground floor),
dormitories (first and second floors), staircases, and yards, and was intended to
segregate them in order to prevent mixing. Views extend south-west from the two upper
floors towards the River Greet and Southwell Minster, but are partially obscured from
the ground floor by the walls of the exercise yards.
To the north-east of the main building, separated by the two service yards lying side-by-side,
stands a range of service buildings (1824), the north-west half having recently (2001)
been rebuilt. These contained an infirmary, isolation cell for refractory paupers,
cow house, stable, bathhouse, washhouse, and bakehouse. Parts have been converted
for office use. Further north, adjacent to the north-west boundary, stands a mortuary
and stable block (early C20), with, opposite, against the south-east boundary, the
1871 infirmary. This two-storey red-brick building faces north-west into the outer
service yard.
The annotated layout of the Workhouse was published by Becher (1828) and influenced
the design of new workhouse buildings at Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, and Ongar,
Essex. The Thurgarton system was implemented at other existing workhouses, including
Uley, Gloucestershire, St Werburgh, Derby, and Penzance and Redruth in Cornwall (Morrison
1999).
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS The grounds were not laid out primarily for ornament,
but for productive purposes and to provide exercise for the pauper inmates. To achieve
these aims the grounds were divided into two main areas: the paupers' enclosed exercise
and service yards situated adjacent to the main building, and the productive land
beyond.
The yards attached to the main building date from the 1824 phase and are divided into
two main sections: those to provide exercise and fresh air which occupy the south-west
front of the main building, and those on the north-east front, which accommodated
service activities. The four main exercise yards occupy the whole of the south-west
front, from which they are entered and overlooked. Windows in the west and south sides
of the octagonal hub, situated in the committee room and governor's bedroom, give
views of all four yards. They are surrounded on three sides by c 2m high brick walls,
and on the fourth, north-east side by the main building, from which each one is entered
via a door at ground-floor level, which is above yard level. The doorways are paired
in small porches which give direct access from the staircases and day rooms of the
respective classes of inmate. Two yards each were allocated for females and males,
to the north-west and south-east of the main entrance respectively, mirroring their
accommodation in the building. The second-class paupers (ie those deemed idle, immoral
and improvident by Becher, and largely comprising the able-bodied) used the outer
yards, and the first-class paupers (ie those deemed by Becher to be of good character
and conduct, and comprising largely the elderly) used the inner two yards which are
somewhat larger. Each yard contains a semicircular privy, standing attached to the
south-west boundary wall. The south-west, outer wall of each yard contains a doorway
giving access to the orchard and field beyond. Elements of the walls and privies have
recently (2001) been rebuilt while the exercise yards have been relaid to asphalt,
following archaeological excavation which indicated that this was the surfacing material
towards the end of the C19.
Two larger, rectangular service yards occupy the north-east front of, and are overlooked
by, the main building. They are divided by the third wing, which housed children,
and bounded by the service range to the north-east and brick walls to the other two
sides. These yards have also been laid to asphalt, the late C19 surfacing material,
and a pump stands at the centre of each one.
A single-storey extension is attached to the north-west front of the main building;
this may have been a schoolroom. A doorway from this opens to the south-west into
a further yard, lying adjacent to the second-class females' yard, which is surrounded
by 2m high iron fencing.
The 1871 infirmary, standing to the north-east of the main building, is set in its
own grounds, on land formerly worked by the inmates. The building is approached from
the outer service yard to the north-west, and is fronted by two exercise yards bounded
by low brick walls which formerly supported iron railings, elements of which remain
in places. The yards are laid to lawn, planted with several mature specimen trees,
and each is enclosed by a perimeter path. To the rear, south-east, of the building
are further enclosed service spaces and buildings, lying adjacent to the site boundary.
KITCHEN GARDEN The inmates were intended to be supported largely by the work of the
able-bodied paupers. To this end the attached ground to the south-west and to the
north-east, together with further adjacent land (outside the area here registered)
was given over to productive crops which they worked. Currently (2002) the c 2ha to
the south-west is divided into two main sections. That closest to the main building,
divided from the field beyond by the clipped beech hedge, contains several mature
fruit trees, with a path running from north-west to south-east along the bottom of
the airing-yard wall, and two spurs leading south-west off this. These appear to be
the remains of paths shown on a map of 1929 (NCC) when the ground was divided into
rectangular quarters of various sizes flanking the main approach path. South-west
of the beech hedge, the field, enclosed by clipped hedges and bisected by the main
approach path, has recently been reseeded and a tarmac car park laid out at the south-west
boundary. This area was in recent times (late C20) a nursery, with nursery buildings
occupying the area now (2002) used as a car park (National Trust 1999).
REFERENCES
Rev J T Becher, The Anti-Pauper System, Exemplifying the Positive and Practical Good
realised by the Relievers and the Relieved under the Frugal, Beneficial and Lawful
Administration of the Poor Laws Prevailing at Southwell (1828; 2nd edn 1834) CKC Archaeology,
Archaeological excavations in the garden area, Thurgarton Workhouse, (report for National
Trust, February 1999) K Morrison, The Workhouse, a study of Poor-Law buildings in
England (1999), pp 36-42, 208, 231 National Trust, The Workhouse, Southwell Garden
Conservation Plan, (unpub report, March 1999)
Maps Enclosure map for Upton parish, c 1795 (EA 1/1/1-2), (Nottinghamshire Record
Office) [copy in National Trust Report 1999] G Sanderson, Round Map of Nottinghamshire
showing the post towns and trading towns 20 miles around Newark, 1835 [copy in National
Trust Report 1999] Nottinghamshire County Council, Southwell County Institution Block
Plan, 1929 (XBP/38/1), (Nottinghamshire Record Office) [copy in National Trust Report
1999]
OS 6" to 1 mile: 1938 edition 1955 edition OS 25" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published
1898 3rd edition published 1915
Archival items An extensive collection of archival material is deposited at Nottinghamshire
Record Office, including the accounts (NA DDX 70). Workhouses file no 100716, (National
Monuments Record, Swindon)
Description written: January 2002 Amended: April 2002 Register Inspector: SR Edited:
April 2002
This garden or other land is registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England for its special historic interest.