Description: Bakewell Poor Law Union formally came into existence on 31st July 1838. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 57 in number, representing its 50 constituent parishes. The new Bakewell Board of Guardians had their first meeting on 13th August 1838, at Bakewell Town Hall. The Hon. GH Cavendish was appointed Chairman. In October 1838, a sub-committee was appointed for providing a temporary workhouse. No suitable building could be found, and a private workhouse at Ashover was rented. In the meantime, the committee began considering the building in or near Bakewell. A four-acre piece of land at Newholme on the Bakewell to Sheffield Turnpike was purchased for £415 from the Earl of Carlisle. This was supplemented by a gift of land from the Duke of Rutland. Plans for the new building, which was to accommodate 200 inmates, were inspected from a number of architects including the well-know partnership of Scott and Moffatt. However, the design finally accepted was by a Mr Johnson of Sheffield. A building tender of £5,340 was accepted from the firm of Moses Hall and John White of Tean, near Cheadle. The bricks for the building were made locally from cast clay. A water supply for the workhouse was provided by the digging of a large pond which could hold 120,000 gallons of spring water. The building was completed early in 1841. The main workhouse block was a Jacobean-style two-storey building. It was embellished with a turret clock and bell costing £80. In 1841, the ground floor of the main building's north wing was converted into use as a hospital. However, in 1848 work began on a separate infirmary block. This two-storey H-shaped structure (later used as a nurses' home) was built immediately to the rear of the main building. It cost £444 and the work was carried out by a Bakewell stonemason. A new infirmary block, now demolished, was built in 1887-9 to the east of the workhouse. A larger infirmary block was added further to the east in 1899-1900. A mortuary, probably built at the same time as the 1889 infirmary, was located to its north. A receiving block and casual wards were located towards the road at the south-west of the site. The workhouse later became known as Bakewell Public Assistance Institution and then under the National Health Service as Newholme Hospital. (information from the excellent workhouse website by Peter Higginbotham)