Watford Workhouse was built in 1836-7 on Vicarage Road and could house up to 100 inmates. Though it was often a last resort, the ‘inmates’ were there of their own free will. People usually ended up in the workhouse if they were too poor, old or ill to support themselves. Unmarried pregnant women often went to the workhouse after they were abandoned by their families. Before the establishment of public mental asylums, the mentally ill and mentally handicapped were often consigned to the workhouse.

Entering the workhouse was a difficult decision to make. It meant a change of legal status, as receipt of poor relief meant a loss of the right to vote, it required a lot of paperwork and an intimidating formal interview to establish the applicant’s circumstances.

Getting admitted into the workhouse was not an easy process. New arrivals were placed in a probationary ward, where they were examined to check the state of their health. Once admitted, paupers were stripped, bathed and given their workhouse uniform. Children would have their hair cut.

Once inside the workhouse, an inmate’s possessions were taken from them, leaving them only with the uniform on their back.

Husbands, wives and older children were separated as soon as they entered the workhouse, and could be punished if they tried to speak to each other. Parents could be granted an ‘interview’ with their children once a day.

Paupers were not allowed out of the workhouse without permission. At least 3 hours’ notice was required, though able-bodied inmates were allowed out to seek work. Many inmates became long-term residents of the workhouse. A Parliamentary report of 1861 found that, nationwide, over 20 percent of inmates had been in the workhouse for more than 5 years.

Some paupers treated the workhouse as a free lodging. It was common for a pauper to discharge himself in the morning then return demanding re-admission the same evening. These inmates were known as the ‘ins-and-outs’.

Workhouses functioned as a self-contained community, with school-rooms, nurseries, vegetable gardens, bakeries, infirmaries and tailors. Once a week the inmates were bathed and the men shaved. Meals were eaten in a large communal dining room that often doubled as a chapel, with communal prayers before breakfast and supper. Those capable of it were sometimes allowed to work in the kitchen or the laundry.

Medical care was poor. Female inmates often acted as nurses, despite not being able to read or write, which became a problem when it came to dealing with labels on medicines. This changed in 1867, when the Metropolitan Poor Act was passed, requiring workhouses to have separate hospital facilities.

Rules were an important feature of workhouse life. Lists of rules were often displayed in the workhouse, and read aloud once a week so the illiterate had no excuse for disobeying them. The breaking of these rules fell into two categories: disorderly conduct, which could be punished by a withdrawal of food ‘luxuries’ such as cheese or tea, or refractory conduct, which could result in a period of solitary confinement. Serious offences, like breaking windows or refusing to work, could result in inmates being sent to prison.

From 1904, to protect them from disadvantages in later life, the birth certificates for those born in the workhouse gave its address just as 60 Vicarage Road, Watford. Records show that several inmates of the Watford workhouse went on to become labourers, servants or scholars. A memorial plaque in St Barnarbas’ Chapel was dedicated to the memory of two workhouse boys, James Gurney and Daniel Gordon, both 16, who later joined the 24th Regiment and died in the service of their country at the battle of Isandulare in Zululand, January 1879.

In 1930 the workhouse was taken over by Watford Borough Council. It was renamed the Shrodells Public Assistance Institution. In 1948 it became Watford General Hospital. The former administration building of the workhouse is now Sycamore House, a Grade II listed building still used by the hospital. The former infirmary block of the workhouse is now the Dermatology Centre and Medical Education Centre.