A History of the Brighton Workhouses

by James Gardner

The spectre of the workhouse haunted the old, the sick, the unemployed, the young and the vulnerable. Its buildings were not symbols of civic pride to adorn urban centres, but were cheap, bleak, grimly austere and oppressive to the poor. They were usually on the edge of town, much like the last standing Brighton workhouse in Elm Grove, now Brighton General Hospital. It superseded the one at Church Hill, just north of St Nicholas’ church, from where in 1862 the pauper children were sent to Warren Farm Industrial Schools in Woodingdean – so isolated an area that contemporaries referred to it as “East America”. The book seeks to give a voice to those men, women and children who found themselves , not in the elegant seafront hotels of which Brighton has been so proud, but instead as inmates of its workhouses. This book is about their forgotten lives.

460 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

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Reviews

[Simon Packham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a history of the Brighton workhouses (and I was) look no further. Well researched and lots of interesting detail. Fascinating to observe historical attitudes to the poor now echoed by our current government.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great addition to Brighton's local history. If you're interested in the subject I can thoroughly recommend it, though it's not an easy read.