Gate Lodges And Gate Piers At Tindal Hospital (The Former Aylesbury Union Workhouse)

Gate lodges and gate piers at Tindal Hospital (the former Aylesbury Union Workhouse)

A pair of single-storey gate lodges from 1844, designed by Strethill Oakes Foden in association with Henry Walter Parker, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner. The buildings are constructed of red brick with yellow brick detailing and slate roofs.

The two lodges stand one to either side of the narrow main gateway to the workhouse, mirroring the architectural style of the main building. Each comprises two distinct sections: a higher northern part and a lower southern part. The northern sections feature two gable stacks, while smaller stacks pierce the roofs of the southern sections. The buildings are not identical; the western lodge has a wide gabled bay on its western side. Some windows retain iron grilles appearing to be original lattice frames.

In 1862 the easterly building housed the porter's lodge, while the westerly building contained the board room. By 1878 the former was annotated on the Ordnance Survey map as the Paupers' Hall. Internally, the board room occupied a single room in the northern section, whereas the Paupers' Hall was unevenly subdivided into two rooms. The southern sections of both buildings were subdivided. Both lodges are now fitted out as modern offices.

The gap between the lodges is closed by iron entrance gates set between red and yellow brick piers with an overthrow and lantern above, all apparently original to the scheme. To either side are short curved sections of iron railings, abutting piers of the same character as those supporting the main gate, with flanking walls truncated with piers. The railings, piers and walls are likely contemporary with the lodges.

The Aylesbury Union Workhouse opened in 1844, replacing an earlier facility, as part of the national network of structured poor relief established following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. Foden designed workhouses at Bromley, Cuckfield, Rye, and Highworth & Swindon. Parker's involvement as Assistant Poor Law Commissioner ensured the building adopted a deliberately domestic Elizabethan style rather than a prison-like appearance, setting it in contrast to the contemporary prison which opened across the road in 1845. The workhouse was intended to accommodate 300 inmates, but held only 117 in 1883 and 91 in 1893. It later became a hospital and is now a mental health unit.