Stow Lodge
{{Infobox building
| name = Stow Lodge
| former_names =
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| status =
| image = Entrance to Stow Lodge flats, Stowmarket - geograph.org.uk - 957813.jpg
| image_alt = Entrance to Stow Lodge flats, Stowmarket from geograph.org.uk - 957813.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = View of the main entrance from the south.
| building_type = Workhouse
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| cost =
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| location = Onehouse
| address =
| location_town = Stowmarket
| location_country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|52.1926|0.9735|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| architect = Thos. FulcherWe are born, we live - we die, the Stow Lodge story by Ken Abbott, published 1988, Messrs Castle Publications, Doncaster
}}
Stow Lodge is a listed building{{NHLE|num=1032951|desc=|accessdate=2 October 2015}} in the parish of Onehouse in Stowmarket, Suffolk. Constructed in 1781 as Union Work House, a House of Industry for the 14 parishes of the Stow Hundred, it was subsequently used as a hospital and is now residential flats.
History
The establishment of Houses of Industry, commonly known as workhouses, was enabled by the Workhouse Test Act 1722 to offer indoor relief to the poor. Stow Incorporation was established by the Stow, Suffolk (Poor Relief) Act 1778 (18 Geo. 3. c. 35){{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Portal:Acts_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom/George_III#1778_.2818_Geo._III.29|title = Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom/George III - Wikisource, the free online library}} and was formed of the parishes of Buxhall, Combs, Creeting St. Peter, Great Finborough, Little Finborough, Harleston, Haughley, Old Newton, Onehouse, Shelland, Stow Upland, Stowmarket, and Wetherden.{{Cite web|url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Stow/|title = The Workhouse in Stow, Suffolk}}
Plans were approved for the construction of Union Workhouse in 1779 and it was completed in 1781 at a cost of £12,000.We are born, we live – we die, the Stow Lodge story by Ken Abbott, published 1988, Messrs Castle Publications, Doncaster According to White's Directory for Suffolk of 1844 it was described in 1810 as having "more the appearance of a gentleman's seat than a receptacle for paupers".{{Cite web|url=http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/norfolk/poor/pre1834/stow/|title=GENUKI: Norfolk: Genealogy: Poor: Stow Incorporation Suffolk}}We are born, we live - we die, the Stow Lodge story by Ken Abbott, published 1988, Messrs Castle Publications, Doncaster
Inmates who died whilst in the workhouse were buried in the paupers graveyard nearby, which was purchased by Onehouse Parish Council in 2000 and is maintained by volunteers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/clear_up_of_paupers_graves_1_105920|title=Clear up of paupers' graves|date=6 December 2005}}
The lodge later became Stow Lodge Hospital until its closure in 1991.{{Cite web|url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Stow/|title = The Workhouse in Stow, Suffolk}} The hospital was scheduled as a building of architectural and historical interest in 1956 and listed as Grade II in 1988.We are born, we live - we die, the Stow Lodge story by Ken Abbott, published 1988, Messrs Castle Publications, Doncaster It was later converted to residential use.{{Cite web|url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Stow/|title = The Workhouse in Stow, Suffolk}}
References
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