Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse
Posted by: 
Team Sieni
N 51° 26.988 W 000° 11.208
30U E 695468 N 5703600
Quick Description: Plaque marking the site of Saint John's Hill Workhouse (also known as the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse) later renamed the Brocklebank Institute.
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 3/27/2010 1:50:16 PM
Waymark Code: WM8FR3
Views: 10
Long Description:
Workhouses have their origins in the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area [1]. "Unions" were amalgamations of parishes that provided workhouses for the accomodation of the poor.
The Workhouse in Swaffield Rd was built in 1886[2]. The inmates performed such work as stone breaking, woodwork, boot repair, laundry and baking. It was later renamed the "Brocklebank Institution" and was in operation in one form or another until the 1930s. There is a book, "Indoor Relief", by Opal Gibson about the history of the Swaffield Road Workhouse.[3]
The plaque reads:
The Site of the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse. (Swaffield Road Workhouse). Later renamed Brocklebank. 1886-1972.
-
AIM25
Archives in London and the M25 area: Wandsworth Board of Guardians
-
The Workhouse
Wandsworth and Clapham
-
Indoor Relief
by Opal Gibson. ISBN 978-0955244407