Purton Workhouse interview with Alec Robbins

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A BBC Wiltshire Sound interview about Purton workhouse with the late Alec Robbins, Curator of Purton Museum and local historian.

Alec tells the unedifying story of the workhouse, officially known as The Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Union Workhouse, describing the reasons for its establishment, the sort of people from 'paupers' to unmarried mothers, the elderly and infirm, and those considered to be 'idiots', who were thrown on its scant protection and at the mercy of a cruel Master.

To discover a full history of Purton Workhouse you can still purchase copies of The Workhouse of Purton and Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Union by Alec Robbins (Purton Historical Society, 1992) at Purton Museum.