Area of former piecemeal enclosure that probably of early date as these irregular fields are near to the original Saxon settlement of Barnsley (Elliot 2002, 26-7). The Barnsley Union Workhouse was built on this site in 1852 after the formation of Barnsley Poor Law Union in 1850 and replaced a small union workhouse in St Mary's Place. Prior to the development of the Union, Barnsley and Hemsworth had shared a poorhouse at Ackworth that was built in 1736 and later utilised small local workhouses. (Higginbotham 2000 [accessed 11/01/08]). In the 1930s the site came under the control of West Riding Council and became Barnsley Municipal Hospital, between 1935 and 1960 it was known as St Helens Hospital (The Welcome Trust 2007 [accessed 11/01/08]). There was a major rebuilding of the hospital in the late 20th century and by 1973 mapping the workhouse building had been demolished and modern hospital buildings built in its place. There is no legibility of the former workhouse but the former field pattern is partially visible in the hospital boundaries so legibility is fragmentary. There were two small sandstone quarries within this polygon marked on 1855 maps.