The Cambridge Female Refuge began operation in 1838. Going inside its walls, this talk will explore the rationale for the building design, highlight furnishings and everyday objects in specific rooms and their role in ‘re-moralising’ women inmates.
Back in 2019 Susan Woodall gave us a talk on the Refuge and some of the women who were housed there, this talk draws on the further research than Susan has performed in the years since then about the Refuge itself.
Susan Woodall is a Senior Lecturer in the History Department of The Open University. The Cambridge Refuge is one of four institutions examined in her research monograph, Material Setting and Reform Experience in English Institutions for Fallen Women, 1838-1910, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2023. It looks at how the location, building design and everyday objects of four English institutions reflected institutional purpose and experience. From the early decades of the nineteenth century, institutions known variously as Refuges, Homes, Houses of Mercy or penitentiaries were set up through charitable action by individuals and organisations. Their purpose was to ‘rehabilitate’ unmarried women who had ‘fallen’ from chastity. Women entering underwent a programme of laundry, sewing, housework, religious and literacy instruction for around two years, after which they were placed in respectable domestic service.
This talk takes place at Ross Street Community Centre, a fully accessible venue, and is open to all. Doors open at 7pm and the talk starts at 7:30pm.
Date Tuesday 10 June 2025
Time 7:30pm – 9pm
Location Ross St Community Centre, Ross Street, Cambridge CB1 3UZ
Admission £3
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