Description:Photograph of group of female staff at Newcastle-under-Lyme Workhouse pictured shortly before it closed.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Poor Law Union was formed in April 1838 and a workhouse for up to 350 inmates was built on Keele Road, designed by Scott and Moffatt. Vagrant wards were added in 1878 and a new infirmary in 1885-6. The female wing was rebuilt in 1894 after a major fire in 1890. The workhouse system was abolished in 1930 but no new use was found for the buildings which were subsequently demolished in 1938. The site is now occupied by housing at Greenock Close and Coomer Court.