Chelmsford Union Workhouse (now St Johns Hospital) (EHER 15374)

Chelmsford Union Workhouse was built in 1837 at a cost of £5000. The architect was William Thorold who designed the building based on the model 'square' plan devised by Sampson Kempthorne for the Poor Law Commission in 1835. This comprised four main ranges emanating from an octagonal hub, enclosed within a square defined by boundary walls and low outbuildings. It could accommodate 400 people. After being virtually destroyed by fire in 1886 a new workhouse was built on the site. This was completed in 1889. Fred Chancellor was the architect. It was designed to a pavilion plan and incorporated the south range and infirmary of the old workhouse. It was built of red brick with a slated roof and red ridge tiles. The old workhouse infirmary was demolished and a new infirmary and nurses' home erected to the south of the workhouse in 1926. The architects were Tooley and Foster. The workhouse was transferred to the authority of Essex County Council in 1930. During the Second World War, an Emergency Medical Scheme hospital comprising seven huts was erected on the site, south of the infirmary. In 1948, the hospital was transferred to the National Health Service. It is now a general hospital known as St John's Hospital.

Erected in 1837 on a nine-and-a-half acre barrack ground, the workhouse followed a cruciform plan. It was re-built to the designs of Fred Chancellor in 1886 after a disastrous fire which destroyed much of the site; a pavilion plan was adopted incorporating the original laundry and part of the southern central range. The infirmary was replaced in 1926 and Emergency Medical Scheme Huts were added during the Second World War. The surviving buildings are mostly of red brick with slate roofs and red ridge tiles; those above one storey incorporate moulded brick string courses and an eaves band. An L-shaped two-storey porter's lodge stands beside the road-side entrance (1 [Plate 1]); the building has a hipped roof and is lit by sash windows. It has a canted end to the south which incorporates a large dormer window for surveillance; a single-storey range extends to the west. The receiving and casual wards (2-5) lie on the south side of the entrance. Building 2 comprises a gabled single-storey rectangular range; the high windows within the long walls providing light for individual cells. Scars on the building provide evidence for the gate piers that would have enclosed the yards. To the immediate west, building 3 is of two-storeys with projecting sanitary annexes at either end; three first-floor windows overlook the yards and the west facade contains a single doorway and sash windows. A square wash house (5) with a pyramidal roof and central ridge vent lies to the rear; the group being completed by a much altered L-shaped single-storey range to the east (4). Further buildings including a weigh-bridge, wood store, stable and cart sheds have been demolished. Following a fire in 1886, the main workhouse was re-built three years later (Grieve, 1994). The new building, designed by Fred Chancellor, has pavilion wards (8 and 9) linked by an east/west corridor (10) fronted by a central administration block (6). The latter is of two-storeys with a gabled central bay containing a round headed entrance (Pate 2). Large six paned windows, divided by stone transoms and mullions lie on either side; those beside the entrance being set within two-storey canted bays. This building represents the public face of the workhouse containing both the master's accommodation and board room. The chapel and dining hall (11) stand to the rear of the administration block; the former (Plate 3) is at first-floor level being lit by four pairs of closely set lancet windows. Further south, a gabled rectangular block surmounted by a cupola (7) lies on the site of the former central hub and the range terminates in a three-storey kitchen (12 [Plate 4]) which incorporates elements of the original 1837 fabric; a boiler house stands on the east side (13). Brick and glazed corridors (10) link this central range with the pavilion wards (8 and 9); those on either side (8 [Plate 5]) are of three-storeys, with gable ends and contain projecting sanitary annexes. Although slightly smaller, the wards at the end of each corridor adopt a similar plan (9 [Plate 6]). To the south-west of the workhouse stands a heavily altered single-storeyed laundry block (14) with a weather-boarded ridge vent. Re-built in 1926, the detached three-storey infirmary (15 [Plate 7]) stands on the south side of the site. The central block breaks forward and the entrance is surmounted by a stone entablature carried on columns. Lit by sash and hopper windows the wings have been raised from two to three-storeys and sanitary annexes project from the frontage. A contemporary nurses home lies nearby (16 [Plate 8]); it is of two-and-a-half storeys with gabled projections to the frontage. The infirmary and nurses home designed by Tooley and Foster architects. An Emergency Scheme Hospital (Plate 9) comprising seven linked huts was erected on vacant land to the south during the W.W.II. These have been up-graded and have lost most of their original glazing. To the north-west of the administration block (6) stands an isolated two-storey building (18 [Plate 10]); it has a central gabled projection and an ocular vent inscribed with the date 1869. Lit by sash windows, this may have been a school building or master's house. Archaeological potential: most of the 1886 workhouse survives with few external alterations. Although contemporary fixtures/fittings have probably been removed the arrangement of internal spaces, corridors and stairwells are likely to remain providing valuable information on segregation and movement. Site significance: an important component of the nineteenth-century architectural and social history of Chelmsford, and the only example of a pavilion style workhouse in the region. <1>. Conservation Area designation at St Johns Hospital, Chelmsford. The Conservation area predominantly encompasses the site of the old workhouse, including the pavilion plan workhouse, ancillary buildings, infirmary block, Nurses Home, and open ground to the north. The site is bounded by Wood street to the East, Widford Grove to the North and the modern hospital to the south. The proposal also includes recommendations to approve the character and appearance of the hospital site/CA. <2> RCHME survey of St John's Hospital 1995. <3> DBA by Purcell Miller Tritton carried out prior planning approval associated with the proposed redevelopment of the hospital site. It recognises the significance of the historic hospital buildings, identifies areas formerly part of the Napoleonic Star barracks and recommends targeted archaeological trenching and building survey <4> Evaluation revealed a single ditch contained a few finds of 18th/early 19th century date. Several structural remains were located, all of which were drainage or water storage features probably associated with the 19th century Chelmsford Union Workhouse. <5> Building recording prior to redevelopment showed most of the buildings surviving on the site relate to the 1888-9 phase of rebuilding, although some parts of the earlier workhouse were retained, including some ancillary buildings which are scattered around the site. Additional buildings were constructed in the early- to mid-20th century, although most of those falling within the site boundary are fairly small-scale, while some alterations were made to the existing buildings at this time to convert them for hospital use. <6> Phase 2 evaluation comprised two trenches which were excavated in the southern part of the site. Undisturbed natural geology was directly overlain by thick deposits of modern made ground and hardcore. No archaeological features, deposits or structures were discovered, which is likely to be a consequence of extensive modern disturbance. <7> Information from NREH Chelmsford Union Workhouse was built in 1837 at a cost of £5000. The architect was William Thorold who designed the building based on the model 'square' plan devised by Sampson Kempthorne for the Poor Law Commission in 1835. This comprised four main ranges emanating from an octagonal hub, enclosed within a square defined by boundary walls and low outbuildings. It could accommodate 400 people. After being virtually destroyed by fire in 1886 a new workhouse was built on the site. This was completed in 1889. Fred Chancellor was the architect. It was designed to a pavilion plan and incorporated the south range and infirmary of the old workhouse. It was built of red brick with a slated roof and red ridge tiles. <8> - <10> The old workhouse infirmary was demolished and a new infirmary and nurses' home erected to the south of the workhouse in 1926. The architects were Tooley and Foster. <8> <9> The workhouse was transferred to the authority of Essex County Council in 1930. During the Second World War an Emergency Medical Scheme hospital comprising seven huts was erected on the site, south of the infirmary. In 1948 the hospital was transferred to the National Health Service, and is now a general hospital, known as St John's Hospital. <8> <9> Grid Reference. <9> <10>