Birmingham Union Workhouse

Birmingham Union Workhouse

Birmingham Parish continued to use the Workhouse on Lichfield Street until a new Workhouse was erected on Birmingham Heath in 1852. It was built from designs by J. Bateman and G. Drury, architects.

Langford gives a description of the new Workhouse in "Modern Birmingham and its Institutions"
"In March, 1852, the new workhouse at Birmingham Heath was opened for Public Inspection. The excitement was very great: upwards of 8,000 persons visited the building, of which the following is a description.

It was erected from the designs of Mr. Bateman, and the building and grounds cover an area of somewhat more than five acres. It is intended to accommodate 1,610 inmates, including officer: viz., 602 adults, 601 children, 310 in the infirmary, 80 tramps, and 17 officers. The principal features of the plan are the perfect isolation of the various departments; the complete separation of the classes and sexes in each department. he building is so arranged that every part of it has the benefit of sunshine during the day, a matter apparently of trivial importance, but really of great advantage in contributing to the health and comfort of the inmates. The site itself is dry and airy, the result in these respects being in strong contrast with the prognostications of those who so vehemently opposed the removal of the workhouse from Lichfield Street. The building is throughout of two storeys, with the exception of the central portion, which consists of three. There is only one entrance to the establishment. On either side are the porters lodge and apartments, the Clerk's and assistant Clerk's offices and waiting rooms. On the second floor is a spacious boardroom, retiring room and cloakrooms. This, however, is altogether apart from the workhouse proper, which is separated by a court yard, in front of which are the Master's and Matron's rooms, so that all persons entering or passing out of the establishment may be seen by them. The building is divided into four departments: namely the adult's, the children's, the infirmary and the tramps. The main portion, which is three storeys, is devoted to adult males and females: a remarkably fine corridor, 460 feet long and 10 wide, open from the floor to the roof, with galleries on the second and third storeys, runs from one end of the building to the other. This arrangement affords ample facility for supervision, and the open space promotes the thorough ventilation of the building. The corridor separates the able bodied paupers from the aged and infirm. The pumps for the supply of water to the establishment are situated near to the able bodied department, and are worked by hand labour. Separate day rooms and dormitories are provided for each class, and each adult pauper has a separate bed; all the rooms are well lighted and cheerful; and everything has been arranged so as to preserve the health and comfort of the inmates. The classification and accommodation in this department are:
infirm and aged, men and women;
ditto disorderly
able men and women
ditto disorderly
The average superficial space allotted to each pauper is, in the day rooms, 14 feet, and in the dormitories 30 feet 7 inches. At the back of the female department is the laundry, fitted up with every convenience. The dining hall, which will accommodate about 1,000 persons, is over the centre of the corridor, so as to be readily accessible; and by means of a gallery the officers can overlook the occupants during meal hours.

The Childrens department is isolated from the other portions of the building; and is surrounded with an air of cheerfulness, comfort and independence, so as to deprive it as far as possible from all association with pauperism. This department consists of a main building with two wings. The ground floor is devoted to educational purposes, the sexes being kept distinct. There are separate class and work rooms, which are lofty and airy; and day rooms are set apart for the boys, girls and infants, which also serve as play rooms in wet weather. In these rooms each child has his own seat, which is numbered, with a little box for his play things, and a peg for his hat; an arrangement which tends not only to habits of order but to excite in the mind a spirit of independence, and habits of providence arising from actual possession. Shoemakers' and tailors' shops are provided for the boys and work rooms for the girls in the respective yards. There are also spacious lavatories and separate bathrooms for the boys and girls, with plunge and slipper baths attached to each department, which may be used hot or cold at discretion. Three dining halls are provided - one for children above seven years of age, another for those under seven, and a third for infants. Above are the dormitories.

The apartments of the schoolmaster and schoolmistress are so placed as to give complete supervision over their respective departments. A wash-house, drying stoves, laundry, etc., adjoin the general washing department, but there is no communication between them. Under each of the wash houses, which are supplied with hot and cold water, are immense tanks capable of containing upwards of 20,000 gallons of rain water.

At the end of the Childrens department, and facing the turnpike road is the Chapel, one of the neatest structures of the kind we have seen. It is in the perpendicular style of architecture, surmounted at the intersection of the transept with a light and elegant bell turret. The interior is fitted up with much taste, and is calculated to accommodate 500 adults and 500 children. The aisles, nave and chancel are paved with encaustic tiles, presented by Mr Bateman, architect and Mr. Minton. The seats are open, and are of stained deal, as is the other woodwork of the establishment. There are galleries in the transepts for the children. The roof is open, supported by six light bronze pillars. There is an elegant stained glass window, the gift of the guardians, Officers of the Parish and the contractor. The very elegant altar cloth was executed and presented by Mr. Bateman's Sister.

At the opposite end of the house is the infirmary, which is detached from all the other buildings. It consists of spacious and well ventilated wards for common cases, four convalescent wards, four for idiotic and epileptic cases, nurses rooms, sculleries, water closets and bathrooms; with separate staircases and airing courts for the different classes. The fever, infection and lying in wards are detached from the building. The dispensary and surgeons rooms occupy the centre of the ground floor.

The cost of the workhouse, including land, building, furniture etc., amounted to £44,476.

Inmates

Workhouses, List of those visited in 1867 With Name of the Workhouse and numbers of insane, idiotic, and imbecile inmates.

WORKHOUSE	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
Birmingham	76	72	148

Source: 22nd Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy to the Lord Chancellor. Submitted by Alan Longbottom.

Discussions were held by the Board of Guardians, with regard to erecting separate schools for the Children.

Birmingham - Workhouse state of
The local guardians by a majority of 22 to 13 - there were only 35 guardians present out of a total of 108 - have resolved to build a boys' school only, at an estimated cost of £7,500; whereas last year complete schools for boys, girls, and infants were to have been built for £23,000.
The majority of 22 rescinded the previous resolution in favour of complete schools. The Poor Law Board, however, has yet to be consulted as to the new plans, and being decidedly in favour of the former arrangement as our authority the local - Journal - remarks, the Board will not readily allow the Guardians to
recede from it, especially as the vote just come to was carried by only one-fifth of the whole number of guardians. Besides, the Poor Law Board may possibly find in the discussion as to the schools another reason for interfering - namely, the state of the workhouse. Dr. Barratt, a guardian and a medical man, gave the following account of the workhouse. "It was overcrowded all through. There was not a single classification that would meet the requirements of the Poor Law Board. The inmates were sleeping on the floor, two and three in a bed. The infants' department was a disgrace to a civilized community. The girls' department was the only one in which there was any approach to comfort, and a
new bedroom was required there at once. The infirmary was overcrowded, the surgeon did not know what to do with the cases. It was the same with regard to the imbeciles and epileptics."
Mr Jones, the late chairman of the Board, added something to this statement. He said that, "the dining-room was occupied by what were called the sore-leg cases. This was a most improper arrangement, and must be altered. The epileptics were wandering about the house instead of being confined to wards of their own."
Mr Clay, a medical man, and one of the visitors to the workhouse during the last month, corroborated and even strengthened the remarks of previous speakers. "He must say that many portions of the house were in a most disgraceful state. In the lying-in ward the cubic space for each patient was 450 ft less than it ought to be. In the epileptic ward there was not half the cubic space there ought to be for the number of inmates. In the bad-leg wards and the infirmary the beds were too numerous. The House could not e sufficiently relieved without adopting
the old plans (for the schools) This would render further building unnecessary for many years. He saw two and three children sleeping in a bed the last time he was at the workhouse"
Some of the so-called economists having denied certain of these statements Dr Barratt replied, "What I state is true, and, if driven to it, I may go considerably further." The Poor Law Board will do well to institute an immediate and public inquiry into the state of the workhouse.
Source: The Builder 1868 Vol XXVI 11th April 1868 p.270
Submitted by Alan Longbottom

Birmingham Workhouse Schools
In a recent letter from the Poor Law Board, read at a recent meeting of the local Guardians, the secretary of the Board says - With reference to the plans which you state the guardians are prepared with for the erection of a school for boys, (on the same land on which the schools for children were intended to be
erected), at a cost not exceeding £7,500, I am directed to state that the Board are not prepared to entertain any proposal for the erection of schools that are not entirely detached from the workhouse, and placed under a separate management" - A deputation, according to the local Gazette, has been appointed
to wait upon the Board with power to "concede" the separation of the new school from the work-house. We are glad to hear it.
Source: The Builder 1868 Vol XXVI 16th May 1868 p.364
Submitted by Alan Longbottom

Birmingham Workhouse Schools
At a recent meeting of the local guardians, Mr Biddle said the Poor Law Board's architect and medical examiner of plans had conceded all that the guardians asked in reference to the workhouse schools, except that they wished the building to be a little wider and longer. - Mr Hawley - And to have a large bath
to teach the boys to swim.The architects (Messrs Martin & Chamberlain) reported that they had had two interviews with Dr Smith, the medical examiner of plans, and Mr Savage, the architect to the Poor Law Board, with reference to the plans
of the proposed new schools for 300 boys. Mr Hawley moved that the plans, modified in the manner indicated in the Report, be sent to the Poor Law Board for their seal. This was agreed to.
Source: The Builder 1868 Vol XXVI 11th July 1868 p.519
Submitted by Alan Longbottom

Birmingham workhouse schools
The Birmingham guardians are again in a difficulty about the workhouse schools. The Poor Law Board decline to sanction the plans lately adopted, unless with modifications so extensive as to greatly enhance the cost. The guardians will not agree to some of these modifications. Neither do they revert to their original resolution to build completely separate schools, and so to leave the workhouse free to its proper inmates, at the same time giving the children the means to escape from the miserable influences of pauper association. All the objections of the Poor Law Board, as the local - Journal - notes, tend in this direction; and perhaps the Poor Law Board may ultimately insist upon the original plans being carried out. It would be cheaper in the end, as well as more beneficial to the children.
Source: The Builder 1868 Vol XXVI .2nd September 1868 p.665
Submitted by Alan Longbottom

The new separate schools were eventually erected 1878-79 and were known as Marston Green Cottage Homes.

The Board of Guardians were replaced by the Public Assistance Committee in 1930. In 1948 Western House became Summerfield Hospital when it was taken over by the Regional Hospital Board, and it continued to develop as a Geriatric Centre. In spite of the change in name to Hospital, buildings were set apart for the Able bodied elderly paupers which was called Part III Accommodation, and the Tramps and Casuals, called Part II Accommodation. These units continued for many years.

There was great over crowding in the Hospital, but the contribution by Inmates could not be ignored, for example, the Gardening and Cleaning of the Hospital. The Hospital also had a fine Orchestra and Cricket Team. Improvements and additional buildings were erected to accommodate the 1,250 patients, but the system was obviously old and in need of constant repair. The number of available beds was gradually decreased, until in 1975 there were 452.

Dr. Ellis, the Chief Medical Officer appointed Dr. Nagley to Western House in 1937, and although the appointment was initially for one month Dr. Nagley stayed for over forty years.

In 1974 Summerfield Hospital was integrated into Dudley Road Hospital becoming the Dudley Road Department of Geriatric Medicine. Changes in funding and regulations in 1984 allowed Social Security Departments to meet the cost of those in need of long term care. A number of Private and Voluntary Nursing and Residential Homes were set up to accommodate this need.

The Plaque standing outside the last remaining building reads:
"In memory of all those folk forced by hardships through the archway of tears and into the workhouse.
In life they endured misfortune, in death they may rest in peace.
Officially unveiled by Dr. Carl Chinn 19th February 1999. On the site of the original entrance to the Birmingham Workhouse or the 'Arch of Tears' as it became known locally"

Dudley Road Hospital, formerly the Workhouse Infirmary was renamed City Hospital, and is now administered by City Hospital NHS Trust.

Records

Birmingham Archives
Central Library
Chamberlain Square
Birmingham
England
B3 3HQ
Tel: 0121 303 3390
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/genealogy

Baptisms St Patrick, Dudley Road 1856 - 1879
Includes the register of the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows in the Workhouse, Western Road.
Original registers are held by Birmingham Archdiocese.

LINK to further photographs of Birmingham Union Workhouse

Page updated 06 August, 2007