Irthlingborough Casual Wards

Irthlingborough Casual Wards, built in 1933, is a former set of casual wards designed by G.H. Lewin, the Northamptonshire County Surveyor, for the Northamptonshire County Council Public Assistance Committee. The building is constructed of red brick with a blue brick plinth and steps, featuring artificial stone dressings and a slate roof with blue ridge tiles. It has a central ridge stack on the front block and is designed in a vernacular style with small-pane metal casements.

The front administrative block includes a day room behind it, while a dormitory block is located further to the rear, all connected by an axial corridor. The structure is two storeys high and has a 15-window range on the first floor, showcasing various sized windows under brick cambered lintels, some with key blocks. There are large projecting gables at either end and a smaller one in the center. The ground floor features similar windows and a door to the center right, along with a projecting single-storey wing to the left. At the rear, there is a single-storey day room with a row of casements, and further back is the higher dormitory block, which includes full-length outshuts at the front and rear and a clerestory above, lit by long casements.

A detached single-storey workshop range, built in a similar style, is currently used as a garage. The interior layout remains largely intact, with room divisions and doors mostly preserved, though few original fittings remain. The front administrative block included a waiting room, accommodation for women tramps on two floors, a duty room, and rooms for live-in staff. The ward block contains eight dormitories, each designed for 20 beds.

This set of casual wards is likely unique as a little altered example of a detached casual ward built in response to the Depression and the increased number of laborers and vagrants seeking assistance following the abolition of the poor law in 1929.