Strand Poor Law Union

Cleveland Street Workhouse
5 December 1930 postcard of Cleveland Street showing the workhouse, now the Middlesex Hospital Outpatient Department
Location in London
General information
Status	Listed building (Grade II)
Type	Workhouse
Address	44 Cleveland Street
Town or city	London
Country	England
Coordinates	51°31′13″N 0°08′18″W / 51.5204°N 0.1383°W / 51.5204; -0.1383Coordinates: 51°31′13″N 0°08′18″W / 51.5204°N 0.1383°W / 51.5204; -0.1383
Completed	1778
Technical details
Floor count	Four
Design and construction
Architect	Edward Palmer

The Cleveland Street Workhouse is a Georgian property in Cleveland Street, Marylebone, built between 1775 and 1778 for the care of the sick and poor of the parish of St Paul Covent Garden under the Old Poor Law. From 1836, it became the workhouse of the Strand Union of parishes. The building remained in operation until 2005 after witnessing the complex evolution of the healthcare system in England. After functioning as a workhouse, the building became a workhouse infirmary before being acquired by the Middlesex Hospital and finally falling under the NHS. It the last century it was known as the Middlesex Hospital Annexe and the Outpatient Department. It closed to the public in 2005 and it has since been vacated. On 14 March 2011 the entire building became Grade II Listed.

The Cleveland Street Workhouse was built on an H plan on the eastern side of Cleveland Street between 1775 and 1778 by the parish of St Paul Covent Garden, on land leased from the Bedford Estate. The construction of the building resulted from the intercession of the Duke of Bedford’s steward Robert Palmer, who together with Duchess Gertrude planned and realized the construction of Bedford Square and Gower Street.

The original Act of Parliament was obtained in May 1775. The building was initially designed to accommodate 200 paupers, but the plan was modified prior to construction to accommodate a greater number.

Construction began that same year and by 1778 the building was already completed and fully occupied. Shortly afterwards, permission was sought from the landowner the Duke of Bedford, to use part of the site as a burial ground for the parish, as authorized by the Parliamentary Act. The ground was consecrated in 1790.