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Union Workhouse, Preston, Lancashire
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Union Workhouse, Preston, Lancashire
The massive Preston Union workhouse erected in 1865-8 on Watling Street Road, Fulwood, Lancashire, for up to 1500 inmates
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Media ID 4464339
© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10415966
1865 Commissioners Dickensian Institution Institutional L Aw Lancashire Legal Legislation Massive Paupers Poor Poverty Preston Status Watling Workhouse Workhouses Fulwood
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This evocative photograph captures the imposing presence of Preston Union Workhouse, located on Watling Street Road in Fulwood, Lancashire, which was erected between 1865 and 1868 to house up to 1500 inmates. The workhouse, a massive institutional building designed to accommodate the poor and destitute, was a product of the English Poor Law Amendment Act of 1867. During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, workhouses were established as a response to poverty and vagrancy, with the intention of providing a deterrent to able-bodied paupers who refused to work. Inmates were required to perform laborious tasks in exchange for shelter and sustenance. The design of the workhouse was intended to instill a sense of shame and humiliation, with inmates segregated by gender and families often separated. The photograph, taken around 1905, shows the workhouse in all its Dickensian splendor, with its imposing gates, barbed-wire fences, and large, austere buildings. The architecture reflects the status of the institution as a place of last resort for those who had fallen on hard times. The workhouse also housed a hospital, providing medical care for the sick and infirm. The Preston Union Workhouse was overseen by a board of commissioners, who were responsible for administering the Poor Law and ensuring that the workhouse ran efficiently. The building remained in use until the 1930s, when the welfare state replaced the workhouse system. Today, the site is a reminder of a bygone era, when poverty and destitution were met with harsh institutionalization rather than compassionate support. The photograph serves as a poignant reminder of the historical significance of the workhouse and the social conditions that led to its creation.
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