Chorlton Poor Law Union,Lancashire

History
A township workhouse at Gorton was in operation prior to the enactment of the Poor Law Union Act.

Chorlton Poor Law Union formally came into existence on 3rd February 1837. It comprised the following constituent parishes

Ardwick St Thomas, Lancashire, Burnage, Birch in Rusholme, Lancashire , Chorlton cum Hardy, Lancashire , Chorlton upon Medlock All Saints, Lancashire Chorlton upon Medlock St Saviour, Lancashire , Didsbury, Lancashire Gorton St James, Lancashire , Hulme St George, Lancashire , Hulme St Mark, Lancashire ,Openshaw, Lancashire , Stretford St Matthew, Lancashire.

Chorlton Union Workhouse
The first Chorlton Union workhouse was located the junction of Stretford New Road and Leaf Street. The building, presumably a former township workhouse, accommodated 300 inmates.

The Withington Workhouse
The new workhouse was located on a green-field site at Barlow Moor, Withington, at the north side of what is now Nell Lane. The building was erected in 1854-5 and was designed by William Hayley, Son and Leigh Hall. The workhouse cost about £53,000 and accommodated up to 1,500 inmates.

In 1864-6 a pavilion plan hospital was erected at the north of the workhouse. Designed by Thomas Worthington, it comprised five well-spaced ward blocks, linked by a covered way, and each accommodating 96 patients.

Following the opening of Worthington's hospital, the original hospital blocks were converted for use as lunatic wards.

An isolation hospital was built at the west of the site in 1872, next to the workhouse cemetery. It housed over 50 patients and its construction cost £2,000. Nurses' homes were erected in 1885, 1903 and 1913-15 at the north-west of the workhouse. The workhouse's medical facilities were further expanded in 1902 by the erection of two new hospital pavilions at the north of the site.

In 1910, ownership of the site passed to the Township of South Manchester. In 1915, the Poor Law Unions in the Manchester area underwent a major re-organization with the formation of a single new Manchester Union. The former Chorlton workhouse was then renamed Withington Hospital. After 1930, control passed to Manchester Corporation until 1948 when the hospital became part of the National Health Service.

Styal Homes In 1895 the Chorlton Union purchased a 190 acre estate in Styal, Cheshire. Here they built cottage homes for children in care.

==== There were about 27 cottages including a couple of nurseries each housing between 13 and 28 children. The estate also included a senior school for more than 350 children, workshops, a laundry, a 16 bed hospital, a church, a swimming baths and the remaining 140 acres was farmed. ====

Records
Chorlton Union workhouse and hospital registers at Withington, 1857-1949 Microfilm of original records formerly held at the Manchester Archives, Central Library in Manchester, England. Withington is a township, and a chapelry in Manchester parish. Manchester Archives Central Library call nos.: M 327/1/1/1-10, M 327/1/2/1-22, M 327/2/2/1-20.

•Greater Manchester County Record Office (with Manchester Archives), 56 Marshall Street, New Cross, Manchester, M4 5FU. Relatively few records survive — holdings include: Lists of emigrant children sent to Canada and other countries (1889-1947, indexed); Ledgers (1837-1915) with gaps; etc.

Web Site
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Chorlton/Chorlton.shtml for images maps and plans of the Chorlton workhouse and Nell Lane Schools and Homes, Rhodes Memorial Home and Styal Homes