Bowditch Close
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Bowditch Close by Neil Owen as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Bowditch Close
Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 21 May 2014
The large and imposing former Union Workhouse is now much different in its welcome. What was once a dreadful place that the poor feared is now an exclusive property that only the rich can afford. Founded in around 1848, the workhouse was designed by Charles Wainwright, based on the Square Plan. It housed nearly 200 inmates at its peak before the facility was converted in the 1930s into a mental health facility. It was renamed the Norah Fry Hospital after a trail-blazing Bristol nurse who devoted most of her life to this institution. But the buildings were finally closed in the 1990s and lay disused until 2004, whereupon they were converted into town houses and apartments. See Image] for the date stone.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.188045
Longitude
-2.557561