FRAGMENT XXXV. CONCERNING HOUSES OF INDUSTRY. VERY soon after the Sherringham report had been written, in which some hints respecting the treatment of the poor were introduced, my attention was again called to the subject by an application from the parish of [Crayford], in Kent, to give a design for a new workhouse, when the following report was addressed to my son, at that time the officiating minister there:-
To the REV. EDWARD REPTON,* at [Crayford,] in Kent. MY DEAR EDWARD, Your letter, communicating the wishes of your parishioners, that I should give my opinion respecting the plan and situation for a new workhouse, or house of industry, with all proper attention to the comforts of the poor, has excited my heartfelt satisfaction; and, as this may be amongst the last efforts of my professional duties, I feel the subject peculiarly interesting to me. The present wretched building is so unhealthily placed in the low and wet marshes, that the first consideration seems to be, the choice of a wholesome spot, on a dry soil. This may be found on the edge of the heath about to be enclosed, and near the side of the high road from London to Dover, where a large gravel-pit presents a bold terrace full facing the south, and so formed by the excavations already made, that very little more digging would be necessary to make a secure fence to enclose the premises.
*[At this time, 1816, curate of Crayford, in Kent, and now, 1839, prebendary of Westminster. In 1808, Mr. Edward Repton published "The Works of Creation," a series of discourses for Boyle's lectures, in one volume 8vo.-J. C. L.]
