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the workhouse ground

The Infirmary (originally Birmingham Union Infirmary) was built in 1889. It was an extension to the Workhouse in Western Road. The (earlier) workhouse gate was the entrance to the infirmary according to this quote:


Extract from Birmingham Daily Post, 22nd April, 1890:
"There is only one way, officially speaking, into the infirmary, and that way lies through the Workhouse Gate, for it is only as an adjunct to the Workhouse that the infirmary is recognised"
 
One way to find out, although would need a lot of digging, could be via the committee minutes just before the plans were made before the workhouse pre-1852 and the infirmary in pre-1889.

Wonder if there are any documents relating to the former 1700s Lichfield Street workhouse in Birmingham describing the need for a bigger and fit fir purpose workhouse to be built outside the city ? There must have been discussions about suitable land.

And re. the 1880s Hospital/Infirmary, there must be a report/minutes somewhere that describe the proposed addition to the workhouse site around the late 1880s. There's a link to Birmingham Archive documents below (click on Search Results)

From the drawing below we get the impression the Hospital/Infirmary was a green site prior to development.
The sort of questions I'd consider about this later development would be who owned the site prior to development ? The Workhouse ? Was the site previously wasteland/heath or farmland ?

My instincts tell me it was heathland prior to being developed for the workhouse and later infirmary, but no hard evidence to offer. Don't know how that would relate to ownership, but I expect the land would have been cheap and regarded as a healthy site. All speculation of course !!
Screenshot_20261007_085834_Chrome.jpg
Some Library of Birmingham sources might help, click here:
 
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Here is the tithe map for the area,, dated 1847, with (I think) the corresponding later map

ScreenHunter 2453.jpgScreenHunter 2452.jpg

The green mark seems to b ethe largest area and is owned by the Birmingham Guardians for the poor, occupied by john Phillip hodgkins
 
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pjmburns said:
I found this 1834 map which Lyn is not sure extends far enough to the left.

View attachment 230835
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great info everyone..yes jan looking at your map i can see parade and summer row so going on from that i think that turnpike road to the left may have become spring hill and dudley road..i am just not sure if your map extends enough to take in the workhouse/infirmary ground

lyn
 
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the reason i asked the question was i was wondering if when they start digging the foundations for the new buildings what they may find below the ground ie was it just farmland ...icknield st which is a roman road was only a few mins walk away so it could be possible roman artifacts could be unearthed...just my curious mind and a nice thought :)

lyn
 
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There are frequent reports of the Board of Guardians meetings ut the difficult bit is finding the references to the "new workhouse" amongst everything else they talked about.
There does seem to have been
much debate about the land at Birmingham Heath and its suitability vs cheapness.
 
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pjmburns said:
I found this 1834 map which Lyn is not sure extends far enough to the left.

View attachment 230835
Click to expand...
if we look at jans map we can see the canal bridge at what is now dudley road at taylors dock..then look at below st view showing the canal bridge which is further down from the site of the workhouse..so i dont think the workhouse site takes in birmingham heath..cant be certain though

lyn
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Not sure as all the articles I have seen so far talk about land at Birmingham Heath.
Wonder how much further to the left it extended?
 
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In Aris Birm Gazette 18.9.1843 page 4 there is a long report from the Guardians as to the possibility and cost of a new workhouse. The land is stated to be in Birminghameath, and the following excert gives reasons for new building. Under the new archive system, I find it virtually impossible to copy and save large clippings from the archive, so cannot copy. , but ref is above.

Aris Birm Gaz. 18 09.1843.jpg
 
I find it difficult as well that's why I haven't posted much.
There is an awful lot of discussion about Birmingham Heath plus others like that in post #10 asking people to tender to supply the new workhouse at Birmingham Heath
 
The Park Glassworks was also on Birmingham Heath which would have been west of the hospital/Infirmary (I think vaguely from memory, on the other side of the canal, somewhere around Heath Street). So Birmingham Heath must have once extended far beyond the Turnpike/Dudley Road.

Perhaps pollution from the Glassworks was a factor in the debate about the choice of land for the workhouse and its suitability vs cost - mentioned previously by Janice ?
 
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I think Janice's map in post #9 does show the area where the workhouse and infirmary would later be built. My estimate of where the infirmary would stand is shown as an orange dot, roughly NE of Lea Bridge. Not 100% accurate, but it would certainly be within this area of the map. There appear to be no buildings or features in this position on the 1834 map. So it was, at this time, most probably still heathland.

For info. 'Taylors Dock' to the SE had Taylor and Piggott's steam boiler making and gas holder manufactory located there. Their address was Taylor's Dock, Spring Hill from at least the 1840s.
Screenshot_20261007_214953_Samsung Browser.jpg
 
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Vivienne14 said:
I think Janice's map in post #9 does show the area where the workhouse and infirmary would later be built. My estimate of where the infirmary would stand is shown as an orange dot, roughly NE of Lea Bridge. Not 100% accurate, but it would certainly be within this area of the map. There appear to be no buildings or features in this position on the 1834 map. So it was, at this time, most probably still heathland.

For info. 'Taylors Dock' to the SE had Taylor and Piggott's steam boiler making and gas holder manufactory located there. Their address was Taylor's Dock, Spring Hill from at least the 1840s.
View attachment 231009
Click to expand...
I've just marked a star on my copy of the map. Roughly where your dot is. So snap Viv lol
 
Vivienne14 said:
I think Janice's map in post #9 does show the area where the workhouse and infirmary would later be built. My estimate of where the infirmary would stand is shown as an orange dot, roughly NE of Lea Bridge. Not 100% accurate, but it would certainly be within this area of the map. There appear to be no buildings or features in this position on the 1834 map. So it was, at this time, most probably still heathland.

For info. 'Taylors Dock' to the SE had Taylor and Piggott's steam boiler making and gas holder manufactory located there. Their address was Taylor's Dock, Spring Hill from at least the 1840s.
View attachment 231009
Click to expand...
agree viv...thats where i thought the workhouse was..as you said it looks like the area was more or less open fields..not many buildings around ..having said that the romans were around there long before that so who knows what lies below the ground..wishful thinking again

lyn
 
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Only buildimngbseems to be the watermill, which is where the workhouse school apparently later was
 
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