86796

 

II  

Designated  

10/11/2005  

10/11/2005  

The Old Workhouse Studio  

 

Monmouthshire  

Abergavenny  

Abergavenny  

Abergavenny  

329123  

214319  

NE  

On the south-west side of town about 80m west of the old railway cuttting.  

Health and Welfare  

 

Built 1837-8 as the Abergavenny Union Workhouse, following the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834, and designed by George Wilkinson of Oxford. It remained in use as the Workhouse until the end of WWII and has since been very much altered as it has gone into various industrial uses. The part which remains of special interest is the entrance block which once contained the Admissions, the Administrative and Warden's offices and the Board Room for the Board of Guardians. The building has been repaired and restored since 2000.  

Built of Old Red Sandstone rubble with Bath limestone dressings and Welsh slate roof. Tudor Collegiate style, as of the front range of a quadrangular building. Two storeys and attic, symmetrical 5-bay design with bays 1, 3 and 5 set forward and gabled, the centre one being much wider than the outer ones. The outer bays have a 2-light mullion-and-transom window on the ground floor, a 2-light one above and a single light one in the gable, all with hollow chamfers. The gables have kneelers with pendant balls and copings. The recessed bays have panelled double gates in 4-centred heads as entries to the yards at the rear. These gates are apparently recent restorations as Newman reported the arches as being blocked in 2000. Plain 2-light window in wall above, placed not centrally but nearer the centre bay on either side. The wider centre bay has a canted 3-face ground floor with a 3-light mullion-and-transom window flanked by 2-light ones. This must have been the Beadle's office for watching the comings and goings. Above this the bay goes to rectangular with the corners carried on elaborate roll corbels. The first floor has a 3-light window, the gable above has a single light one, gable with kneelers with pendant balls, copings and finial. Plain steeply pitched roof with all chimney stacks removed. Rear elevation not inspected.  

Interior not inspected at resurvey.  

Included for its special interest as a well-preserved entrance block of a mid C19 Poor Law union workhouse retaining definite character.