I wondered whether anyone could help me with the
history of the old Cardiff workhouse? The Workhouse site says:
According to a 1777 parliamentary report, the
parish of CardiffSt John the Baptist and St Mary
had workhouse for up to 200 inmates. It was
located on the west side of St Mary Street, later
the site of a branch of the National Provincial Bank, opposite the town gaol.
Elsewhere I have found a reference to the site
being at Tai Cochion in Roath (but that might
have been a separate workhouse for the parish of
Roath). It continued in existence for a short
time after the establishment of the New Poor Law,
but was soon found to be inadequate and replaced
by the building in Cowbridge Road. The parish
records showed that pauper women gave birth there
in the early nineteenth century, and "On the
Parish" (Raymonth Grant) shows an extract from
the Vestry Minutes dated 1819 ordering that
children and other inmates should be employed in
basket makng and picking oakum.
What intrigues me is the size of the
workhouse. According to Vision of Britain the
population of Cardiff was just under 2,000 in
1801, so that a workhouse provision of 200 would
seem excessive, unless it provided a facility for
surrounding parishes as well.
I would be grateful for any information
Anna
Anna