Rochdale Poor Law Union

History
The Rochdale Township workhouses in the Rochdale area included at Spotland (100 places), Hollingworth (58), Marland (50), Calf Hey (30) and Wardleworth (24). Spotland erected a new workhouse in the 1780s. It was located at Spotland Bridge at the southern end of what is now Primrose Street, on the land between between Primrose Street and Spodden Street The Hollingworth workhouse stood on Syke Lane at the western shore of the Hollingworth Reservoir. (Its location is sometimes give as Butterworth, the district in which it was situated.) Marland's workhouse stood at Marland Fold to the north of Marland Old Road which lay within the township of Casteleton. The Wuerdle and Wardle workhouse was a row of cottages at Calf Hey, at the north of Wardle Fold. The Rochdale Poor Law Union was formed on 15th February 1837 Rochdale was an area of vociferous opposition to the New Poor Law and the new union was set up in the face of opposition from local ratepayers. Radical opponents of the 1834 Act, led by Thomas Livesey, first attempted to boycott Guardians' elections. They then put up their own candidates who, when elected, did not attend Board meetings. Mounting pressure from the Poor Law Commissioners finally led, in 1845, to legal action being instituted against members of the Board of Guardians. Although the prosecution failed due to a legal technicality, the Commissioners persuaded local magistrates, who were ex officio members of the Board, to begin conducting union business. In April 1846, a new Board was elected and was dominated by anti-Poor Law members who continued to obstruct the Poor Law authorities. The Rochdale Union initially continued to make use of most of the existing township workhouses. In 1866, a Poor Law Board Inspector visited each of the workhouses and condemned the conditions In 1863-5, a new workhouse was erected at Marland to replace the old Marland and Calf Hey buildings. Located, just to the south of the old Marland workhouse, it was built by unemployed cotton workers during the American Civil War, as a Poor Law project, to provide paid employment. The new workhouse accommodated 260 adults and 40 children However adverse reports continued. In 1886, the Marland workhouse was converted for use as an infectious diseases hospital, later becoming Marland Hospital.

Dearnley (Birch Hill) Workhouse
In 1871, the Union purchased a 24-acre site on the slopes of Birch Hill and Starring Hill at Dearnley for £2,500. The following year, building work began on a large new workhouse. In March 1873, the old Spotland workhouse partially collapsed, possibly because of subsidence due to coal mining beneath the building. However, since the new workhouse was far from ready, the Spotland building had to be patched up and was used for another four yours. Even then its days were not over — in 1881, Rochdale Corporation were forced to rent it for use as a temporary isolation hospital during a smallpox epidemic. The new workhouse, designed by George Woodhouse and Edward Potts, was originally intended to accommodate 632 inmates but by its eventual opening in November 1877, various extensions had increased the capacity to 847, including 29 officers. The total cost of the buildings and land was £85,000. The building was officially opened by the Mayor of Rochdale, Alderman T Schofield, on Wednesday 19th December 1877. In 1902, a 172-bed infirmary was built at the north of the workhouse. It had a central administration block with male and female ward pavilions to each side. During the First World War, part of the site was taken over by the military who also erected tents in the grounds. In 1930, control of the site passed to Rochdale County Borough, with the Poor Law Institution being run by the Public Assistance Committee and the Hospital being run by the Health Committee. With the inauguration of the National Health Service in 1948, the site became a single hospital known as Birch Hill. Now run by Rochdale Healthcare NHS Trust, many of the original buildings are still in use. The conversion of the buildings to residential use has been controversial.

Wardle Cottage Homes
In 1898, Rochdale Union erected a children's cottage homes site at Wardle. The children lived in 'family' groups of around a dozen children, each under the care of a house 'mother' or 'father'. The buildings, which included five pairs of children's houses, were designed by P Butterworth and Duncan.

Records
• Lancashire Record Office, Bow Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2RE. Holdings include: Guardians' minutes (1845-1900) etc. • Local Studies Library, Touchstones Rochdale, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AQ. Holdings include: Minutes (1837-45, 1900-1930) etc.

Web Sites
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Rochdale/Rochdale.html