For more information see Historic Kidderminster Project 601

Following the reform of the Poor Law in 1836 a single Poor Law Union was established  that took in Kidderminster and many surrounding parishes with a total population of some 30,000 people – the population of Kidderminster alone was some 16,000 at the time. The New Poor Law was very specifically designed to ensure that recourse to the assistance of the Poor Law was a most disagreeable experience. Most specifically, ‘outdoor relief was abolished; that meant that people supported by the Poor Law authorities could not remain in their own homes but had to live in the workhouse itself. Families were separated into their male and female members (children staying with their mothers)  and were accommodated separately. Employment inside the workhouse was found for its residents and they lived under a strict discipline where  any infraction could results in punishment and denial of privileges

A new workhouse was built in Kidderminster to enable these rules to be applied and completed in 1838. It could house 400 people. There were plans to replace it in the 1880s but instead supplementary facilities were built on the existing site at Sutton Road that included men's and women's hospitals, a bakery, a brewery and a boiler house.

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The sole remaining building, pictured here, was built in 1874 and  provided services for vagrants and housed the Workhouse boardroom.

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The workhouses finally disappeared with the advent of the Welfare State in the immediate post war years. The old workhouse site was subsequently redeveloped to accommodate Kidderminster General Hospital, leaving just this one building of the old facility still standing today.

 

For information of some of the towns most celebrated people see Notable Local People