19th century Billericay Union Workhouse (EHER 15372)

Billericay Workhouse was built in 1839. The architects were George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt. In 1898 an infirmary was added as well as casual wards. In 1907 a receiving ward was added. In 1927 a new infirmary was built. In the mid 20th century the buildings were used for St Andrew's Hospital. As of the early 21st century they are used for residential purposes. The workhouse building and the porter's gate lodge are both Grade II listed.

An eleven and a half acre site, situated centrally in the town, north of the railway line. Erected in c.1840 to plans by George Gilbert Scott, following an Elizabethan-Tudor style which he had recently adopted. The original buildings are of red brick with gauge brick quoins, aperture surrounds and slate roofs. The entrance buildings and main block have stone dressings and blue diapering on the facades. The small single-storey porter’s lodge (1) in the south-east corner of the site has a brick porch to the north with open archways surrounded by stone on all sides. To the north-west stands a two-storeyed, rectangular receiving ward with a central north facing projection (2). It was erected in 1907 to plans by Walter J. Wood and contained a clothes store at first-floor level (RCHME, 1995). The main H-shaped workhouse (3) faces south-west. It comprises a symmetrical two-storeyed central range with single-storeyed cross-wings. The central Master’s block is two-and-a-half storeys high and has two canted bays at both levels. The single-storey cross-wings at either end of the central range terminate with a square block to the south-west; the northern example contains a chapel (4), whilst the southern was used as a board room (5). To the rear of the central range the single-storeyed kitchen (6) has been replaced by a later addition. A number of modern structures have also been erected in the yards. The 1840’s infirmary (13) has been demolished, but a second example, erected in 1898, stands at the eastern end of the site (7). Possibly incorporating the fabric of an earlier structure, it was altered in 1914 and again 1924 when a rectangular two-storey extension was added to the north end for tuberculosis patients (8). The infirmary is faced in red brick with shaped aprons under the sash windows and has a slate roof. It is a rectangular south-west facing block with a central gabled projection containing an off-centre round headed doorway. There is a diagonally set two-storey square sanitary annex at the north end; this has a flat roof, masked by a parapet wall. The south end of the block is canted. To the rear is a two-storeyed projecting ward range; the tuberculous wards at the north end are glazed to the east. A Superintendent’s house (9) and adjoining casual ward block (10) stand at the northern end of the site. Erected in 1898, their roadside entrance was designed to separate tramps from other inmates. The Superintendent’s house is an L-shaped block, one and a half-storeys high with an entrance at the south end. It retains its original door, flanked by decorative brick pilasters and stone steps. The adjoining casual ward block, on the east side, is one-storey high. It was entered through the doorway on the west side which retains its original wooden door. This is surmounted by a wooden canopy supported by moulded brackets and stone corbels. Inside the entrance is a central east-west running corridor lit by a ridge lantern and flanked by a single-storey parallel range, gabled to the east and west. These parallel ranges contained the sleeping cells, lit by small centrally hinged windows, which opened above the flat roofs of the adjoining stone breaking cells. The cells have small, high windows, hinges for the grills and holes through which the stones were pushed into the outside yards. The holes, strengthened by engineering bricks, have been bricked up. An L-shaped block to the south-west of the casual wards contained the mortuary, porter’s lodge and a wood store (11); the mortuary survives with later alterations. The laundry and boiler house to the south (12) have also been replaced. A two-storey nurses home, built in 1911 (14), lies to the north-east of the 1898 infirmary and a later infirmary, built in 1924 (15), lies beyond; the latter is one-storey high and follows an H-shaped plan. It has canted ends to the east with open verandas (16) which retain their original glazed roof supported by stone columns; there is a two-storeyed administration block at its north end. Other buildings include Emergency Medical Scheme Huts (17) erected for casualties during the Second World War; they comprise nine single-storey blocks connected by a covered way. ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL: Many of the original buildings survive with only minor additions to the fabric. The workhouse retains much of its external integrity and plan form, but an internal inspection is needed to examine evidence of room layout and original fixtures/fittings. SITE SIGNIFICANCE: Good example of an early nineteenth-century workhouse retaining many important features; these also include the original entrance gates, perimeter fencing, boundary walls and planting. The site is potentially of major national importance being designed by a renowned architect at the beginning of his career and for the existence of the unique casual wards. RECOMMENDED ACTION: The listing of the Porter’s lodge and workhouse is supported. Given the potential national importance of the casual wards, these should be considered for Graded II* listing. Conservation Area status should also be afforded to the above, the 1898 Infirmary, boundary walls, fences and areas of planting. MANAGEMENT: The buildings are currently well maintained, but in need of minor repairs. Should the hospital become threatened, the core buildings (1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 7 and 8) merit sympathetic conversion with the retention of those fixtures/fittings identified as being of historic interest; the remaining structures are of lesser importance. Detailed recording needs to form an integral element of any future scheme of reuse. <1> 1999. Building recording. The building recording at St Andrews was undertaken after the majority of the hospital had closed and prior tonic start of the demolition. The development involved the conversion into residential units of the former Billericay Union Workhouse and the restoration of the Porters lodge, both Grade II listed buildings. The remainder of the buildings on site were demolished. Buildings of particular interest included the Union Workhouse, which was erected in a Tudor-Elizabethan style in 1840 to plans prepared by Scott and Moffat. Based on Kemptbornes standard plan, the original workhouse comprised a Chapel, Board room, central Masters Quarters, Dormitories and Day rooms with Kitchens, a Boiler house and a detached Infirmary to the rear. The main H shaped block displayed evidence of social, class and gender segregation, common in many contemporary workhouses. The 1S98 Infirmary was built incorporating many contemporary ideas in hospital design, such as pavilion planning, cross-ventilation and sanitary annexation A TB block was added to the infirmary in 1924. A nationally unique casual ward used for itinerant initiates, and which sill retained evidence of dormitory cells and stone-breaking hatches was located by the Stock Road entrance, as was the adjoining Labour Masters house (social club). Other buildings of interest were the Male Receiving ward of 1907, the Porters lodge, built in the sane Tudor style as the workhouse, and the new infirmary of 1925. The infirmary included features, such as glazed verandas and sun balconies, prominent in contemporary hospital design and based on the ideologies or sunlight and fresh-air. Other features included ward pavilions, a separate operating theatre, and an administration 'kitchen block linked by to the wards by a cover-way. Sited to the north, EMS huts erected during the war remained. Later additions included a large operating theatre, Day and health centre and the Burns unit opened in 1982. St Andrews Hospital closed in 1998 and was relocated to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. <2> NRHE data transfer: Billericay Workhouse was build in 1839. The architects were George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt. In 1898 an infirmary was added as well as casual wards. In 1907 a receiving ward was added. In 1927 a new infirmary was built. In the mid 20th century the buildings were used for St Andrew's Hospital. As of the early 21st century they are used for residential purposes. <3> The workhouse building and the porter's gate lodge are both Grade II listed. <4> See also: <5> <6>