Buildings on the road from poorhouse to penthouse

Jan 28 2008 Hannah Jones, Western Mail

IT ONCE housed the destitute, vagrants, the mentally ill, unmarried mothers, and people unable to feed or clothe themselves.

As a former workhouse, Carmarthen’s Penlan building is synonymous with the grim picture of Dickensian life exemplified by Oliver Twist’s famous plea for a second helping of gruel, “Please sir, I want some more.” The workhouse system wasn’t finally abolished until 1930.

But more than 170 years on from Dickens’s portrayal of squalor, hunger and neglect, this former workhouse could soon be transformed into an altogether more elaborate form of housing – with a total price tag of £450,000 and any new homes fetching a forecast £160,000 each.

The building is being sold for development with planning permission to turn the old infirmary into four hi-spec apartments. There are also plans to transform the old boiler house into a further two flats.

The workhouse, a two-storey stone building put up in the 1830s by the Carmarthen Poor Law Union, has six rooms on the ground floor and seven upstairs, with stone cantilevered staircases. It’s a landmark building in the area, believed to have been designed by George Morgan, architect of many religious and public buildings in Wales.

It was also stormed by protesters during the Rebecca Riots of the mid-19th century, and housed up to 140 “inmates”.

Used until recently as offices by Carmarthenshire County Council, it is now on the market for £450,000.

Delyth Davies, the selling agent for Clee Tomkinson Francis, said developers should not be put off by the enormous task of transforming such a building to modern expectations and standards. “With an internal space of 1,420 sq ft just in the main building, the scale of the conversion project could be daunting,” she said.

“The workhouse is also an unusual shape – very long, but not very deep.

“It has sat empty for a few years, but the main building is in relatively good condition, with mains water, drainage and electricity connected.

“The new owner will probably need to demolish a dilapidated outbuilding on the property and create a parking area.”

She added, “We estimate that the buyer will have to spend £50,000 per unit on conversion, and it would suit a developer or investor looking to fill a gap in the Carmarthen market with spacious homes for professionals.

“Similar two-bed flats in a school conversion in the town sell for around £160,000.”

If bought and developed, the new look Penlan willIts new life as flats would bear little resemblance to its original use. Conditions in workhouses were harsh, with families being broken up and the ill treated in insanitary conditions with most of the nursing care provided by untrained, and often illiterate, female inmates. Towards the end of the 19th century, things gradually improved, particularly for the elderly and infirm, and for children.

Food became a little more varied and small luxuries such as books, newspapers, and even occasional outings were allowed.

Assistant master of Penlan in the 1920s, Mr DJ Evans, remembered his time working there as part of research into workhouses for the Carmarthenshire Historian.

He noted, “Duty hours were very long; furthermore, the workhouse in those days was run by ‘inmate labour’, which meant that every able-bodied person had to contribute by performing various jobs, indoors and outdoors.

“Although far removed from that of Dickensian days, the regime was still strict and a far cry from conditions in today’s Social Welfare Homes.”

He added, “Conditions improved in time. Shower-baths were installed and a steam disinfector was connected to the boiler to treat clothing infested with fleas and lice.

“The clothing was put into a container, from which air was then drawn out before steam was injected. Anyone doing this kind of job usually daubed his own clothing with paraffin to ward off contamination.

“Each tramp had a bath on admission, after which he was given a night shirt of very coarse calico as well as a towel.

“All had to come naked for their shirts. They were also provided with slippers, but few used them on the stone-flagged floor, partly covered with coconut matting.”

Rich history wins former paupers’ home a new lease of life - page 2