Spilsby Union Workhouse, Hundlebury

For Spilsby Union, Sir George Gilbert Scott was chosen from seventeen architects, including William Nicholson, a well known antiquary and architect of Lincoln, whose work included Lincoln Workhouse. Clearly his success in Lincolnshire was due to a combination of an ability to convince the Guardians of the superiority of his designs and his personal influence. Many of the Guardians were clergymen who would be familiar with ‘The Commentator’s’ work and his local connections, and his marriage into the Oldrids at Boston must have helped. Certainly the Oldrid’s hospitality was apparent when on 23 May 1837 he was being interviewed by the Guardians of Louth Union and two days later he had to face the Spilsby Guardians. Perhaps with such intense pressure, the presence of Caroline at Boston provided some relief, and clearly while the work was in progress, it was very convenient to stay with the Oldrids at their house in South Place, Boston.

Spilsbury Workhouse was to house 260 inmates and was built to a standard Scott and Moffatt plan at a cost of £3,500. The contractor was William Sissons of Hull and the clerk of works William Lewin. It was completed in 1838. Only the entrance portion of the main block remains, now derelict, the reception block destroyed in an air raid during World War II.

Colvin, H., A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1995), p. 417.