The History of the Lewes Workhouse Building

Brighton & Hove Meeting Centre

Mathew Homwood will reveal the story of the impressive, but long-forgotten Lewes Union Workhouse building.  Full of fascinating stories, photographs and plans, the talk takes us from the building’s construction in the 1860s, to its demolition during the 1950s.  The talk looks at life in the workhouse and will also delve into the often turbulent lives of the seven workhouse masters.

The building ceased to be used as a workhouse in 1902, and the talk will look at its many subsequent uses. These include its time as the Female Inebriates’ Reformatory, which involved various daring escape attempts by some of the inmates.

The talk finishes with a look at the long-overdue demolition of the ‘black spot of Lewes’, and the subsequent plans to put something in its place.