| The Ruthin Union Workhouse | |
|---|---|
 Ruthin Workhouse, Ruthin; c. 1965 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Town or city | Ruthin, Denbighshire |
| Country | Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°06′47″N3°18′12″W / 53.113182°N 3.303207°W Coordinates: 53°06′47″N3°18′12″W / 53.113182°N 3.303207°W |
| Construction started | 1837 |
| Completed | 4 February 1837 |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | stone, wood and brick |
Ruthin Union Workhouse was a workhouse on Llanrhydd Street, Ruthin, North Wales. [1]
It cost £6,050 at the time and was opened on 4 February 1837. The work house was upgraded in 1910, on a "square" layout with separate accommodation wings for male or female, infirm or able-bodied etc. The building radiated from a central hub. [2] The Ruthin Union workhouse was demolished in the 1960s: some parts were incorporated into the Ruthin Community Hospital. [2]
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged after the Second World War.
Ruthin is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh rhudd (red) and din (fort), after the colour of sandstone bedrock, from which the castle was built in 1277–1284. The Old Mill, Ruthin, is nearby. Maen Huail, a registered ancient monument attributed to the brother of Gildas and King Arthur, stands in St Peter's Square.
In Britain, a workhouse was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. The earliest known use of the term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected wthn [sic] our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work".
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601 and attempted to fundamentally change the poverty relief system in England and Wales. It resulted from the 1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws, which included Edwin Chadwick, John Bird Sumner and Nassau William Senior. Chadwick was dissatisfied with the law that resulted from his report. The Act was passed two years after the 1832 Reform Act extended the franchise to middle class men. Some historians have argued that this was a major factor in the PLAA being passed.
A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Southmead Hospital is a large public National Health Service hospital, situated in the area of Southmead, though in Horfield ward, in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England. It is part of the North Bristol NHS Trust. The 800-bed Brunel Building opened in May 2014, to provide services, which transferred from Frenchay Hospital in advance of its closure. The hospital site covers 60 acres (24 ha).
Great Snoring is a rural village in North Norfolk by the River Stiffkey, in the east of England. It is situated approximately 25 miles (40 km) north-west from the city and county town of Norwich, and 2 miles (3 km) north from the larger village of Little Snoring.
City Hospital is a major hospital located in Birmingham, England, operated by the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. It provides an extensive range of general and specialist hospital services. It is located in the Winson Green area of the west of the city.
Selly Oak Hospital was situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011.
The Andover workhouse scandal of the mid-1840s exposed serious defects in the administration of the English 'New Poor Law'. It led to significant changes in its central supervision and to increased parliamentary scrutiny. The scandal began with the revelation in August 1845 that inmates of the workhouse in Andover, Hampshire, England were driven by hunger to eat the marrow and gristle from bones which they were to crush to make fertilizer. The inmates' rations set by the local Poor Law guardians were less than the subsistence diet decreed by the central Poor Law Commission (PLC), and the master of the workhouse was diverting some of the funds, or the rations, for private gain. The guardians were loath to lose the services of the master, despite this and despite allegations of the master's drunkenness on duty and sexual abuse of female inmates. The commission eventually exercised its power to order dismissal of the master, after ordering two enquiries by an assistant-commissioner subject to a conflict of interest; the conduct of the second, more public inquiry drew criticism.
Llanfyllin is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means church or parish (llan) of St Myllin. The community includes the tiny settlements of Bodfach, Ty Crwyn, Abernaint and several farms.
The Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway was a standard gauge railway line that connected Corwen with Denbigh via Ruthin in North Wales.
Ruthin Community Hospital is a community hospital in Ruthin, Wales. It is managed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Ruthin School is a public school located on the outskirts of Ruthin, the county town of Denbighshire, North Wales. It is over seven hundred years old, making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom. Originally a school for boys, it has been co-educational since 1990.
Billinge Hospital was a National Health Service facility in the Billinge Higher End district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It was managed by the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust.
Ruthin Town Football Club is a Welsh football club, based at the Memorial Playing Fields in Ruthin, Denbighshire. Football in Ruthin dates back to 1878 when a new club was formed. In 1880 Ruthin reached the final of the Welsh Cup only to lose 2-1 to Druids. However, the club in its present form dates back to 1949 when they joined the newly re-organised Welsh National League as Ruthin British Legion. They currently play in the Cymru North.
The Irish Poor Laws were a series of Acts of Parliament intended to address social instability due to widespread and persistent poverty in Ireland. While some legislation had been introduced by the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland prior to the Act of Union, the most radical and comprehensive attempt was the Irish act of 1838, closely modelled on the English Poor Law of 1834. In England, this replaced Elizabethan era legislation which had no equivalent in Ireland.
The Huddersfield workhouse scandal concerned the conditions in the workhouse at Huddersfield, England in 1848. The problems included overcrowding, disease, food, and sanitation, among others. A report, for instance, described the workhouse as "wholly unfitted for residence for the many scores that are continually crowded into it, unless it be that desire to engender endemic and fatal disease. And this Huddersfield workhouse is by far the best in the whole union."
The Birmingham Union Workhouse was a workhouse on Western Road in Birmingham, England.
The Old Court House, Ruthin, Denbighshire, North Wales was built in 1421 and is a Grade II* Listed Building. It was a branch of the National Westminster Bank until its closure in 2017 and is notable for being the first building to be attacked at the outset of Owain Glyndŵr's revolt on 6 September 1400. The previous building on the site of the old court house was an establishment owned by the de Grey's which made it a prime target for Owain Glyndwr in his 1400 sacking of Ruthin. The court house served until 1663 when the town hall was built on the square.