Monument record MDO27983 - Shaftesbury Union Workhouse, Alcester, Shaftesbury

The Shaftesbury Union Workhouse was completed and opened in 1840. It could accommodate 250 inmates and was designed by William Walker, based on the Poor Law Commissioner’s model square plan. After 1930 the workhouse became Shaftesbury Public Assistance Institution and cared for the chronically sick. It was demolished in 1949.

ST 8562 2272. Poor Law Institution. Of two-storeys with ashlar walls and slated roofs, was built in 1838. Recently demolished. <1>

Shaftesbury Union Workhouse was built in 1838 to designs by William Walker. The building had a cruciform plan and was two-storeys high with ashlar walls and slated roofs. Most of the workhouse building was demolished in 1947 and replaced by housing. However a small part of the east wing appears to survive on modern Ordnance Survey maps and is a house known as 1 Umbers Hill. <1-3>

Shaftesbury Poor Law Union was established in 1836 and comprised 19 parishes. The new workhouse was completed and opened in 1840. It could accommodate 250 inmates and was designed by William Walker, based on the Poor Law Commissioner’s model square plan.

After 1930 the workhouse became Shaftesbury Public Assistance Institution and cared for the chronically sick. ‘Alcester House’ was demolished in 1949.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 73 (Monograph). SDO99.

<2> Morrison, K, 1999, The Workhouse: a study of Poor Law Buildings in England (Monograph). SDO17690.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 2005 (Map). SWX1197.

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BF100486 (Index). SDO14738.

Shaftesbury Union Workhouse, Shaftesbury

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 913731 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2022 6:08AM