In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act took the management of poor relief from local parishes and transferred it to new Poor Law Unions. Brackley’s was managed by an elected Board of 33 Guardians, representing 30 different parishes. These parishes were diverse in every sense and had a population (at the 1831 census) of 13,351.

In 1836, the Commissioners authorised the expenditure of £5,500 for the new building. Accordingly, in 1836/7 the new workhouse for 250 people was built in West Hill Gardens (off the Banbury Road).

It was designed by architect Sir Gilbert Scott, who based his design on Sampson Kempthorne’s model \”square\” plan. The workhouse saw a very busy period, but by 1904 views on poverty had begun to change. To protect ‘residents’ from disadvantage in later life, the birth certificates for those born in the workhouse stated their address as ‘The Home, Brackley.’

The site was eventually demolished in the 1930s for housing. However, Towcester’s workhouse remained and, although converted into private housing, gives us an insight into what Brackley’s might have looked like.