Westbourne workhouse
Westbourne’s workhouse opened in 1835 at Commonside, in the north of the village, on the site of what is today a small housing development called Union Yard. It replaced the original Poor House, which was opened in 1773 and enlarged in 1818.
Did you know?
The Westbourne workhouse survived all through WW1 and only closed in October 1925. The premises were then converted into a children’s home that survived until 1933. It was then demolished, although parts of the surrounding walls of the workhouse can still be seen today in Commonside.
As a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, 11 parishes in the Chichester area combined to form a new body called the Westbourne Union. The Union area was large, covering a total population of 6,585 at the 1831 Census and stretching from Up Marden and Compton in the north to West Thorney in the south, and from Westbourne in the west to Bosham in the east.
Before 1835, each parish had been responsible for relieving its own poor. Chidham had its own Poor Cottage to accommodate local people. Westbourne workhouse took the younger and more able-bodied whilst Bosham workhouse took the aged and infirm from the area, who were transferred there by cart. Bosham also had a workhouse situated on the Village’s quay. However, following criticism in 1835 about the lax regime at Bosham this workhouse was closed down. Bosham workhouse is shown below as it is now, converted into cottages.
Did you know?
The closure of Bosham left Westbourne as the Union’s only workhouse for the Bourne area so the Poor Law Commissioners authorised £2,000 for its expansion, the equivalent of £200,000 today!
Life at the workhouse was deliberately hard and was designed to deter people from seeking entry unless they were really desperate. Men worked either in the vegetable garden, maintaining the fabric of the building, or picking oakum which involved unravelling heavily tarred ropes from ships to salvage the valuable strands of hemp. Work for boys included making fishing nets to be sold in Emsworth and women and girls spent much of their time on needlework.
Food was adequate but unexciting except for rare treats, like at Christmas or on special holidays. In 1837, three men who stole potatoes from the workhouse garden were deprived of tea and sugar for a week and given gruel to eat instead, a type of watery porridge. The following year the Chaplain was given permission to supply the inhabitants with plum pudding on New Year’s Day, but all at his own expense!
Westbourne village at this time had 2,031 residents and the workhouse could accommodate up to 90 inmates. This means around one in twenty residents was in the local workhouse at any one time, but people didn’t just end up in the workhouse because they were poor.
In 1861 the Poor Law Board published the name of every adult pauper who had been a workhouse inmate for five years or more, with the reason for them being sent there, and if they had any schooling. By 1887 the workhouse had expanded to 220 inmates and its layout and location can be seen on the 1920 map below, before it finally closed its doors in 1925.
- Find out more about what happened to the poor in workhouses at Wikipedia – click here
- Find out more about the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 and what it meant – click here
The Cricketers Pub
This friendly family run pub on the edge of South Downs National Park is well known for its well-kept ales, beers and ciders and locally sourced food. Steeped in history, the Cricketers is in a great location for walking, cycling and bird watching, being close to Stansted House and Racton Monument.
They offer a great menu with pub favourites such as scampi, chips and peas and a great sausage sandwich using local Sausages from Adsdean Farm. The large sunny beer garden has plenty of space and can host resident events too.
The pub has a pool table, darts board and shove ha-penny plus two large TV screens either end of the bar which show a range of live sports throughout the week.
Did you know?
The Cricketers has even welcomed Cliff Richard over the years to enjoy a cuppa!
- Cricketers website – click here
- Commonside, Westbourne PO10 8TA
- Email: info@thecricketerswestbourne.co.uk
- Phone: 01243 372647