Amersham Workhouse

Workhouse in/near Amersham, existed between 1838 and the 1930s.

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Workhouse · * · HP7 ·
MARCH
9
2018
The Amersham Workhouse was situated on the site of Amersham Hospital.

The Union Workhouse was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who also designed the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park and St Pancras Station in London. It was built in 1838 and served a number of local parishes and provided basic care of the elderly and those unable to work.

It was built following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 which obliged parishes to form a "union" to build a workhouse. The Amersham Union included the parishes of Chesham, Beaconsfield, the Chalfonts and Penn. Typically, a Union Workhouse was built in the largest town of the Union. In Amersham’s case this should have been Chesham, but Amersham was chosen.

The Union Workhouse replaced the many work houses around the parishes, with the "inmates" being moved from their local towns, sometimes leaving them for the first time in their lives. Owing to the location of the "union" Workhouse, Whielden Street was for a time known as Union Street. The name reverted to Whielden Street (named after a previous land owner) in 1930 when Bucks County Council took over the site replacing the Union. Life in the Union Workhouse was tough, the inmates having to wear uniforms, work hard and were forced to church on Sundays. Men, women and children were housed in separate wards. There was also an infirmary and tramps and vagrants wards.

It was originally the Workhouse for the Amersham Union of Parishes and then became Amersham Hospital.

The building is now Gilbert Scott Court.


Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence


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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

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Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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LOCAL PHOTOS
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In the neighbourhood...

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Front of the Amersham Museum
Credit: Amersham Museum
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Amersham Broadway (1889) At the time, the church tower was being renovated.
Credit: George Ward (Amersham Museum)
Licence: CC BY 2.0


George Ward, Amersham Entrepreneur By 1890, George and Bessie had a shop in the Broadway selling crockery and toys with a newly built photographic studio in the yard behind. In 1896 they moved to larger premises, opposite the Market Hall in Amersham High Street. Here George set up an engineering business and a ‘Cycle and Motor Works and Domestic Machinery Stores’. They offered a wide range of services, including watch repairs, and sold phonographs and records. Until about 1910 he manufactured the “Wizard” bicycle in his workshop.
Credit: Amersham Museum
Licence:


Laying a new gas main in Whielden Street, Amersham (1910)
Credit: George Ward/Amersham Museum
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Sheep in Market Square, Old Amersham with Mr Lillywhite, the policeman, in attendance (1890)
Credit: George Ward/Amersham Museum
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A413 Amersham bypass (2008)
Credit: Geograph/Oxyman
Licence: CC BY 2.0


The Union Workhouse was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who also designed the Albert Memorial and St Pancras Station in London. It was built in 1838 and served a number of local parishes and provided basic care of the elderly and those unable to work. The building later became Amersham General Hospital and is now Gilbert Scott Court.
Credit: George Ward/Amersham Museum
Licence:


Church Street, Amersham (1973)
Credit: Geograph/Stanley Howe
Licence: CC BY 2.0


River Misbourne, Amersham Old Town (2014)
Credit: Geograph/John Lord
Licence: CC BY 2.0


High Street in Amersham, Buckinghamshire (2020)
Credit: Geograph/Steve Daniels
Licence: CC BY 2.0




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