Where am I? You are on the site of Eastville Workhouse, which opened its doors in 1847. In the 1930s it became an old people's home and was finally demolished in 1972. This page is about the three memorials which are part of the Eastville Workhouse Project. Eastville Workhouse Plaque The plaque is situated on what is now the pedestrian entrance to East Trees Health Centre. This was the entrance to the driveway that led up to the main workhouse buildings. The new medical center was opened in […]
During the year of 1855 rumours of murder and cover up were circulating in the small north Somerset village of Walton-in-Gordano. An epileptic destitute country girl had died in the local institution known as the Bedminster Union Workhouse. Her death caused public outrage after letters were written to the local newspapers. The Board of Guardians were suspected of concealing the true magnitude of neglect at the workhouse, leading to accusations of medical negligence. In this pamphlet, Victorian […]
This is a copy of the programme handed out at the Eastville Workhouse burail ground memorial unveiling 16/11/2015. Download the programme here...
Some reaction to today’s memorial unveiling
Download the programme from the unveiling ceremony. The BBC put an article on their website: Eastville Workhouse's 'forgotten paupers' memorial unveiled. Beautiful, moving memorial this morning on Rosemary green, for 4000 men, woman & children buried in unmarked graves. pic.twitter.com/SP6jvzHK6R — Hannahbella Nel (@Hannahbellaaaa) November 16, 2015 A follow up on our story with @BrisRadHis about unmarked paupers' graves: pic.twitter.com/DeWhWHodIq — BBC Inside Out West (@InsideOutWest) […]
In 2012, radical historians poring over old maps of east Bristol discovered a disused burial ground at Rosemary Green, close to the site of Eastville Workhouse. Over the following years, a team of local researchers revealed that in the nineteenth century more than 4,000 men, women and children from the workhouse had been interred in unmarked graves. Built in 1847 as a result of the New Poor Law, Eastville Workhouse was the largest in the Bristol area housing over a thousand inmates. 100 […]
Eastville Workhouse Burial Ground Memorial Unveiling Ceremony Rosemary Green, Eastville, BS5 6LB 11.00am Monday 16 November 2015 Download the full press release - Press Release Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group Event details. Residents of East Park Estate are to unveil a memorial to more than 4,000 men, women and children who died in Eastville’s notorious Workhouse between 1851 and 1895 and were buried in unmarked paupers’ graves in what is now Rosemary Green. A six foot Welsh slate standing […]
Members of the Eastville Workhouse Memorial Group have used death registers at Bristol Record Office to identify the people given pauper's burials at Rosemary Green adjacent to the site of Eastville Workhouse. They found the names of over 4,000 men, women and children buried in unmarked graves and evidence of how Poor Law Guardians kept the cost of burying inmates as low as possible. As part of Explore Your Archive week, join us at this free drop-in session to see these interesting archival […]
In 2012 some radical historians poring over old maps of East Bristol came across a disused burial ground at Rosemary Green close to the site of Eastville Workhouse at 100 Fishponds Rd. Over the following years a team of local researchers revealed that more than 4,000 men, women and children, inmates of Eastville Workhouse, were interred in unmarked graves in Rosemary Green from 1851-1895. 100 Fishponds Rd: Life and death in Victorian Workhouse is a summary of their research and a history of […]
