Risbridge workhouse from the south-east, 1859.
Risbridge workhouse from the south-east, 1859.
Risbridge entrance block from the south-east, 1980s. Compare
with the drawing above
A parish workhouse existed at Haverhill which was later used as the Cosford Union workhouse.
Risbridge Poor Law Union was formed on 3rd November 1835. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 28 in number, representing its 26 constituent parishes as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):
County of Suffolk: Barnardiston, Great
Bradley, Little Bradley, Clare (2), Cowling, Denerdiston or Denston, Haverhill
(2), Hundon, Kedington, Poslingford with Chipley, Stansfield, Stoke by Clare,
Stradishall, Great Thurlow, Little Thurlow, Whixoe, Wickhambrook, Withersfield,
Great Wratting, Little Wratting.
County of Essex: Ashen, Birdbrook, Helion's Bumpstead, Ovington,
Steeple Bumpstead, Sturmer.
The population falling within the Union at the 1831 census had been 16,192 — ranging from Little Bradley (population 22) to Haverhill (1,758). The average annual poor-rate expenditure for the period 1833-35 had been £14,315 or 17s.8d. per head of the population.
In 1836, the new Risbridge Union took over the existing parish workhouse at Haverhill and the sum of £800 was spent on its enlargement.
In 1856, a new building was erected at Kedington to designs by JF Clark. It was extended in 1900 with the addition of a new male block and kitchen (see illustration above). The workhouse location and layout are shown on the 1920s' OS map below, by which time the workhouse was officially known as Risbridge Poor Law Institution.
Plan view of the workhouse in Kedington, in Mill Lane.
The above information is copyright of Peter Higginbottom
A housing estate and care home now occupy the former workhouse site in Keddington. They can be seen being built at the top left of 2nd the picture below. The paler area is the site of the workhouse as on the plan above. The road entrance to the estate maintains the historical link with the former Risbridge Hundred Workhouse by being called Risbridge Drive. The access road to the estate is called Mill Road in reference to the Mill that was once present, as seen in the diagram above. The 1946 photo clearly shows the workhouse and it's grounds. Click on the picture for an impressive larger view
.
Kedington from the air 1946 and 2005. The site
of the workhouse is clear.
The 1946 image is courtesy of Peter Smitheram. To see more of Peter's pictures of Kedinton 1946 -1965 click here
The Suffolk Record Office holds records include: Guardians' minute books (1894-1930); Births and deaths (1913-37); Creed registers (1901-37); etc.[A 'hundred' was a unit of local administration, dating from medieval (Anglo Saxon) times. Normally larger than a village but smaller than a county; the name has some connection to a territory of 100 "hides" (a measurement of area), although this was not consistently the case in practice. In the former Danelaw the "wapentake" had a similar role. Many towns had acquired, by the time of Domesday, the status of a hundred. The hundred court developed out of, and superseded, the older folkmoot; it dealt with less serious criminal and civil cases. Great Bradley was in the hundred known as 'Risbridge'
]
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