Lost Buildings, Vanished Institutions: Making Sense Of Nineteenth-Century Soup Kitchens

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology/Architecture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Soup kitchens, the charitable provision of food, principally soup (often accompanied by bread), became widespread in late-eighteenth century Britain. During the following century, soup kitchens fed between 10 and 30% of the population during wintertime. They were a vital resource in the survival strategy of the poor. Almost all of the thousands of buildings that provided charitable soup have been demolished, altered beyond recognition, lost or forgotten. Yet, the landscapes, structures, places and spaces shaped patterns of behavior and the performance of charity. This paper will show how the material evidence and documentary evidence can be interpreted though a cross-disciplinary approach to take our understanding of institutions and buildings in new directions and challenge our concepts of what archaeological sites can be.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Archaeology/Architecture

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow