Rotherham's old cottage workhouse was
run by the Feoffees. The Feoffees were an officially recognised committee of men who
were mostly prominent land owners, dealing with the towns affairs including land rights
and sharing the care of the very poor.
A scheme to train the poor (or paupers) to make clothing was devised under the Elizabethan Poor Law Act of 1597-1601. If the paupers refused to enter the scheme they were liable for prosecution. If they were caught begging around town they were arrested and prosecuted as vagrants and sent into the workhouse anyway.
The money to finance the Feoffees scheme seems to have come from a gift of £40 given by Thomas Colte and a legacy of £100 left to Rotherham's poor by the Earl of Strewsbury in 1617. The Feoffees used some of the money to lease and fit out the cottage workhouse in 1659, A total of £229.9s.7d was spent fitting out and reglazing the cottage.
In February 1838, The Rotherham Poor Law Union purchased a piece of common land from the Feoffees for the sum of £1000 to build a new workhouse and replace the old cottage workhouse which was now totally inadequate. Mess, Moffatt of Doncaster was chosen to be the architect. The new building would stand in five acres of land at the top of Alma Road and face east, on top of the hill viewing Sheffield in the distance. One of the fields bought was called Penny Less Walk.
Rotherham Union made an application for a loan to the Poor Law Commissioners to help purchase the land and build the new workhouse also known locally as" the house". On the 5th June of the same year a loan for six thousand pounds was granted and work on the building started straight away. By 8th of August the following year a further loan of £800 was needed to cover the outstanding demands. The workhouse was opened by 31st of July 1840 and had accommodation for 314 inmates and was said to be placed in one of the most healthiest and picturesque part of the town. The new workhouse cost £232,3s, 3d the total cost with fixtures and fittings £3,988, the extra money was spent on staffing.
© Neil and Janet Croft 2005