Building record BLB 187 - The Airing House

An airing house was a place for patients to recover from diseases after they had been treated or inoculated until they were fit enough to return back to the main workhouse. The date of construction of this building is uncertain but the workhouse was built in 1766.

The main building is aligned North-South and measures 12.9m long by 4.34m wide with a 4.36m wide central counter section protruding 2.76m from the east elevation. All the external walls are soft red facing brickwork in Flemish Bond, with corbelled and dentilled eaves. All windows except WG04 and WG05 have laid brick arches over. The roof covering is clay peg tiles, the main building has brick parapet gables at both ends and a hipped roof over the eastern counter section. There are some remains of boxed sash timber windows. The simple internal layout on both levels consists of a central staircase serving a single room on either side and single room to the rear. It is assumed that the easten section (service block) would have been service rooms- possibly kitchen on the ground floor with bathroom above. The building has 3no. Chimney stacks with all rooms having a single fireplace, some original cast iron fire places remain in-situ (S1).