In
connection with a proposal to designate the one-time
Workhouse at Forge Green as a "listed building"
the following information has been extracted from
the parish archives. |
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The building was
constructed to a design by Mr. Thomas Martin of
Dalston on a piece of waste ground, later known
as Forge Green, between June 1826 when the plans
were approved and the early part of 1828.
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At
the vestry meeting which approved the tenders
of local builders and gave work to Henry Tiffen
of Buckabank on 26 June 1826, it was recorded
that he was to build according to the plan and
specification with the exception of the north
end where he was to build a wall with blank windows
the same height as the other part of the court
wall and uniform with it. Money for payment of
the cost of building the workhouse to the total
sum of £400 was raised on a mortgage by
the vestry for 10 years. |
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After 1838 when
the Carlisle Union took over the functions of
the old parish of Dalston the workhouse was occupied
by James Finlinson, the assistant overseer, presumably
as a private house.
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In
1844 the vestry considered selling the workhouse,
but decided against it and took up James Finlinson's
offer of £6 a year to rent the kitchen,
vestry room, the lodging room above the vestry,
and a small lodging room for one bed off the room
above the kitchen, the garden and one outbuilding.
The dayroom of the workhouse was to be divided
into two rooms for the use of the Relieving Officers
of the parish for which they were to pay an annual
rent of £5. The remaining parts of the building
were to be turned into cottage dwellings and an
outside staircase was to be built. |
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In
1853 the workhouse was conveyed to the trustees
of Dalston Grammar School by whom it was managed
until the building was sold to the Parish Council
in 1895. Under the new arrangement two rooms were
let to the overseers of the poor for the use of
the Relieving Officer and the remainder to Mrs.
Finlinson, Christopher Sproat, Sarah Pugmire and
Miss Hoffer. Some further alterations were made
between 1855 and 1856 to accommodate fewer tenants,
but it is not clear how this affected the structure
of the building. In 1879 the terms of letting
the property were again revised. Under these new
terms the vestry room and a small bedroom to the
west end of the building with an outside stair
was reserved for the parish and the remainder
of the premises were let to William Scott, a joiner.
William Scott continued to be tenant of the property
until the Parish Council acquired it in 1895. |
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In
1890 the vestry book notes that the property suffered
a fire as a result of having been struck by lightning,
but the damage must have been small as the cost
of repairs amounted to £5 or so. |
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