Clerkenwell Workhouse

The Clerkenwell Workhouse stood on Coppice Row, Farringdon Road, in London, from 1727 to 1883.

History

The original workhouse was built in 1727 by the Clerkenwell Vestry. An infirmary was added in 1729.
In 1775, following the Clerkenwell Act 1775, responsibility for the workhouse passed to the Clerkenwell Guardians, who were appointed for life by the vestry. The building was replaced by one twice as large in 1790.
The workhouse infirmary was described by The Lancet in 1865 as one of the two worst in London, and "fit for nothing but to be destroyed". Following the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, responsibility passed to the Holborn Guardians. The building was demolished in 1883.