Redbourn Workhouse Plaque
Stevenage Parish Workhouse

Hertfordshire’s 18th Century Parish Workhouses

Barkway Community Room and Pavilion

Long before the advent of large Victorian workhouses, many parishes across the country attempted to solve the problem of increasing numbers of poor people by opening workhouses in towns and villages. This talk will look at how Hertfordshire came to have workhouses in the first place, particularly in the local area, what people might have expected on entering such an institution, and what became of those properties that served as workhouses up until the 1830s.

7:30PM start. Talk lasts approximately 1 hour. Glass of wine on arrival.