A solitary pillar stands before us. It is all that remains of the Headington Union Workhouse. This imposing structure once housed hundreds. It served as a refuge for the destitute. It was also a place of hardship and sorrow.
The Headington Union Workhouse opened in 1838. It was built on a seven-and-a-half-acre site. The design was by George Wilkinson of Witney. The workhouse was intended to accommodate 250 people. It served 22 parishes in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The parishes ranged in size from the tiny village of Stowood to the much larger Oxford St Giles.
The workhouse was a hexagonal building. Three wings radiated from a central hub. This design provided segregated accommodation. It housed different classes of inmates. These included men women children and the infirm. The central hub held the master’s quarters. It offered views over the exercise yards. A separate infirmary was added later. Small single-story buildings flanked the entrance. They likely served as casual wards for vagrants.
Life within the Headington Union Workhouse was far from easy. One particularly scandalous incident involved the workhouse master John Smith. In 1848 he was appointed master. His wife was the matron. However his affair with a former schoolmistress ended his career abruptly. His wife discovered his infidelity. Both Smith and the schoolmistress were dismissed.
The workhouse’s grim reality is vividly described by Frank Gray a former Liberal MP. He disguised himself as a tramp. He experienced the conditions in the casual ward firsthand. He described the terrible conditions. Overcrowding filth and lack of supervision were common. He wrote about his experiences in his book The Tramp. His account is a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by many.
From around 1904 birth certificates of children born in the workhouse recorded the address as Hill House. This was done to avoid the stigma associated with being born in a workhouse.
After the workhouse system ended in 1930 the building became London Road Hospital. Later it served as an old people’s home called The Laurels. It was eventually closed in 1966. The building was demolished in 1968 to make way for housing. Only this pillar and a section of wall now remain. They stand as silent witnesses to the past. They serve as poignant reminders of the Headington Union Workhouse’s complex and often tragic history.