Former Workhouse at Shifnal Hospital

The former Workhouse, later part of Shifnal Hospital, dates to 1817, with an addition at the rear in 1841. It is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and has a hipped slate roof. The building is arranged in an L-shape. It has two storeys and features a plinth, a band at first-floor sill level, a dentil brick eaves cornice, ridge stacks positioned off-centre to the right and left, and a central ridge stack on the wing. The front has ten bays, with the left-hand bay projecting. It has glazing bar sashes with gauged heads, a first-floor wooden cross window to the right, a blind arcaded ground floor with two orders of arches, a blank right-hand bay, C19 wooden cross windows in the second and third bays from the right, and a three-light C20 casement in the left-hand bay. Pairs of C19 three-panelled doors with over-lights are found in the fourth and sixth bays from the left, and a C20 door with an overlight and rendered surround is located in the seventh bay from the left. The right-hand wing has a two-bay left-hand return front, featuring C19 wooden cross windows on the first floor, a C19 four-paned sash to the right on the ground floor, and a blocked door with an overlight to the left. This workhouse represents an earlier example predating the standardised designs implemented following the 1834 Poor Law.

Further details are provided in The Buildings of England: Shropshire by Nikolaus Pevsner, page 245.