Workhouse is just as it should be

Published: 12 November, 2010

• THE threatened former Strand Union Workhouse is unique in being the finest intact example of an 18th century purpose-built workhouse/infirmary left standing in London. 

Despite its changes of name over the past 235 years or so the core function of the building persisted during the entirety of that long period and it was still in use as the out-patients’ department of the Middlesex Hospital in 2005.

Had the Strand Union Workhouse not been in use by the NHS it would automatically have obtained listing protection due to both the age and rarity of the building. 

All the changes which have been made to it are part of the evolution of healthcare in the UK.

It is easy to judge the workhouse negatively. Its aesthetic is certainly austere, yet this is exactly as it should be: it presents an excellent example of the plain utilitarian workhouse design of the Georgian era, set back from the street, comfortable in its own site. It fits well among the more elegant neighbouring period properties, many of which it pre-dates, and contributes to the historic charm and scale of the Conservation Area in which it stands. 

Its exceptional social and medical history renders it of national importance.

At recent meeting of the Neighbourhood Watch, about 200 people voted unanimously to preserve the workhouse. 

AIMERY DE MALET
Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia Liberal Democrats