Bath Union Workhouse
History of the Workhouse
The Bath Union Workhouse opened in 1838 to house the increasing numbers of destitute people needing support following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The workhouse was to accommodate 600 people, with separate wings for men, women and children. By 1845, it contained 758 adults and 374 children, and by 1857 additional wards for invalids and ‘lunatics’ had been built to satisfy the increasing demand.
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(Source: Bath Record Office)
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Workhouse Burial Ground
The Workhouse burial ground is situated next to Upper Wellsway, adjacent to St Martin's Garden Primary School. Over 3,000 workhouse inmates were buried here between 1858 and 1899, without any memorials or gravestones, or the site appearing on any modern maps. Since 2019, a local group of people have been working to bring attention to the burial ground and pay tribute to the people buried there.
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Source: Richard White (2025)
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Workhouse to Hospital
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Source: John Payne (2020)
Life in the Victorian Workhouse
Workhouse Photo Gallery
Describe your image
The website The Workhouse: The Story of an Institution provides a huge amount of information about workhouses throughout the U.K.
Source: Peter Higginbotham (2025)
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Chapel of St Martin
The Chapel of St Martin was opened in 1846, having been built largely by inmates of the workhouse, "for whose spiritual benefit it was designed". After the workhouse closed in the 1930s, it continued as chapel to St Martin's Hospital. It is currently used as storage by the hospital.​
Source: Don Lovell (1996)
