Catherington, Hampshire
Up to 1834
A parliamentary report of 1777 recorded a parish workhouse in operation at Catherington for up to 30 inmates.
A row of cottages at Finchdean was once a local poorhouse.
![Finchdean, 2001](Finchdean1.jpg)
Finchdean former poorhouse, 2001.
© Peter Higginbotham.
After 1834
Catherington Poor Law Union was officially formed on 6th April 1835. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 9 in number, representing its 5 constituent parishes as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):
Hampshire:
Blendworth, Chalton, Clanfield, Catherington (4), Idsworth (2).
Later Addition: Waterloo (from 1910).
The population falling within the union at the 1831 census had been 1,950 — ranging from Clanfield (population 219) to Catherington itself (944). In terms of its (1831) population, Catherington was probably the smallest union in England. The average annual poor-rate expenditure for the period 1831-34 had been £2,796 or £1.8s.8d. per head of the population.
A new Catherington Union workhouse was erected in 1835 in Horndean. Intended to accommodate 80 inmates, the Poor Law Commissioners authorized the sum of £1,050 on its construction. The red-brick building had a T-shaped layout. The workhouse location and layout are shown on the 1909 map below.
![Catherington Map 1909](CatheringtonMap1909-2500.gif)
Catherington workhouse site, 1909.
©Hampshire Library & Information Service.
![Catherington workhouse, 1977](Catherington2.jpg)
Former Catherington workhouse (right of picture) from the west, c.1977.
©Hampshire Library & Information Service.
In 1925, the Guardians decided to close the workhouse. The remaining inmates were then boarded out at the Portsmouth workhouse.
![Former Catherington workhouse, 1933](Catherington3.jpg)
Former Catherington workhouse, Horndean, from the west, c.1933.
In 1933, the workhouse building was renovated and altered for use as a county council home for thirty boys. After the Second World War, the building was used as a textile hand-printing factory. The workhouse buildings were demolished in 1982. All that remains is a small single-storey structure at the western end of the former workhouse site.
![Catherington, 2001](Catherington1.jpg)
Catherington from the west, 2001.
© Peter Higginbotham.
Staff
Inmates
Records
Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.
- Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester SO23 8TH. Very few records survive. Holdings include Guardians' minute books (1900-1929).
Bibliography
- Higginbotham, Peter The Workhouse Encyclopedia (2014, The History Press)
Links
- None.
Unless otherwise indicated, this page () is copyright Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.