ABSTRACT
This chapter presents statistics on the construction of workhouses and other institutions from 1835 to 1914. Only statistics about expenditure for these purposes are continuously available for the whole period. 1834 to 1870 was the period when the general mixed workhouses were built. 1870 to 1914 was the period when specialised treatment facilities for particular classes of paupers were provided. Construction took two forms; first, special-purpose blocks were added to pre-1870 general mixed workhouses, and second, specialised institutions were built completely separate from existing workhouses. The construction programmes after 1834 and after 1870 were about building different kinds of institutions, rather than building more accommodation. The annual reports of the central authority list sums authorised to be expended on workhouse building and distinguish between ‘initial’ and ‘additional’ authorisations made for every workhouse project. ‘Possible’ workhouses are those that only appear once in the expenditure series as requiring an ‘initial’ or an ‘additional’ authorisation.
