In this talk local historian Chas Townley explores the construction in 1837 of Stroud Workhouse, in response to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, when individual parish responsibility for paupers was handed to poor law unions. As well as providing basic shelter for destitute workers and their families, it also provided institutionalised care for disabled people and the sick and infirm for just over a century.

In 1937 the majority of occupants were chronically sick, infirm or disabled and the building also served as Stroud's maternity ward. Many workhouses of this period were soon to be incorporated into the NHS, but the fear and stigma of the workhouse often remained in the minds of the older generation. In the case of Stroud, in 1939, after a decade of indecision with no replacement in sight, it was declared unsafe and closed.

Part of the At The Margins exhibition programme.

FREE but booking recommended as spaces are limited - book online or call 01453 763394.