The workhouse, or union, for a large district is a comparatively recent creation. “The poor” we have had “always with” us, but they have not always been dealt with as they now are. By statute 23 Edward III. (1349), it was enacted that “none should give alms to a beggar who was able to work.” By common law the really deserving poor were to be assisted “by parsons and parishioners, so that none should die for default of sustenance.” By Act, 15 Richard II. (1392), impropriators (i.e. laymen holding church property) were bound to contribute a certain yearly sum to the poor of the parish, but no compulsory law was passed till 27 Henry VIII. (1536). The present poor law system dates from 43 Eliz. (1601); successive amendment acts being passed from 1836 to 1847, and again in 1861; and a further relief act in 1862.
At first parishes regulated their own methods and amounts of relief. For a long period, indeed, the labouring class were subject to strict legal rules, both as to service, and in their individual movements. It was quite an innovation when, in 23 Henry VI. (1445), a servant was permitted to change masters after giving due notice; and when moving, or, as it is locally called, “flitting,” from one parish to another, for employment, he had to produce a certificate of settlement from his last abode. In such matters the overseers were paramount, until their powers were transferred to the newly constituted guardians of the poor, by Act of Parliament, in 1839. [133]
The “workhouse” preceded the “union,” which latter term was adopted when parishes, throughout a large district, were united for the purposes of poor relief. [134a] In some cases a country parish had its own workhouse. For instance, old parish books of Thimbleby, [134b] show that in 1819 £20 was spent upon the village workhouse, which was insured for £200.
Among some old churchwardens’ records, in the possession of Mr. John Overton, of Horncastle (members of whose family have frequently held that office), it is mentioned that early in the 18th century a “public oven” was erected in the town to enable the poor to cook their meals, or to bake the “black bread,” then in common use, [134c] more conveniently than they could at home. [134d] At a later date (1780) a spinning school was established by public rate, to help the poor to earn a livelihood by a home industry. [134e]
An important advance was made in poor relief, in 1735, when, as the same records state, “on April 17 a committee was appointed, [134f] in Horncastle, to build a workhouse,” and on May 7th in the following year a brief note gives the cost of the building as being £175 13s. 4d. This was situated on the east side of St. Mary’s Square, separated by a few yards from the Grammar School, the site being now (1908) occupied by a common lodging house. It continued to be the public workhouse for over 100 years; and that the poor, who needed relief, were generally expected to enter as inmates, is shewn by another brief note, in the same records, to the following effect: “May 2nd, 1781. Out payments discontinued, except in sickness.”
It was not till 1838 that the present workhouse, in Foundry Street, was built, from the designs of Mr.—afterwards Sir—Gilbert Scott, being one of his earliest undertakings [134g] It is a commodious structure, capable of accommodating
260 inmates; and, with grounds attached, covers an area of between four and five acres. It is now known as “The Union,” and the union district embraces 69 parishes, represented by 76 guardians, to whom, as already stated, the former duties of the overseers were transferred in 1839.
The Rev. Canon A. E. Moore is the present Chaplain.
THE COURT HOUSE.
The majesty of the law has not always been so worthily domiciled in Horncastle as during the last forty years. In Stukeley’s map of the town, dated 1722, the Sessions House is placed at the south-east corner of the “Mercat Place,” where there now (1908) stands a small refreshment house. The cells for prisoners probably formed the basement of this building, as there is no known record of their being confined elsewhere, until the year 1821, when what was called the “Round House” was built, at the north-east corner of the Market Place, opposite the present Lord Nelson Inn. This was a small circular building, having two cells, with a colonnade running round it, which formed a shelter for market women selling butter, eggs, &c. The foundations of this structure were so shallow that it is on record that a prisoner, in the course of one night, scratched a passage under the wall and effected his escape. [135] This prison was demolished in 1853, when the present police station