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Reformatory

This was a school or Institution for 'the Industrial training of Juvenile Offenders'.

The boys were boarded there with clothing and food also provided.  Young lads who had been convicted of 'an offence punishable by prison' were sent here up to the age of 16.  Occasionally boys up to 19 years old could also be sent by a court.

Turvey's Reformatory was founded by T.C. Higgins of Turvey House in 1857 and was certified for use on 9th April 1857. It housed between 60 and 70 boys who were 'maintained and instructed in agricultural pursuits'.  These teenagers came from quite far afield.

In 1864 the superintendent was called Joseph Roberts.

In 1881 the Reformatory was being run by a Hereford born man called John Jones (aged 46).  He was classed as the Superintendent.  His wife, Mary (43) was the Matron and his eldest son George was a paid monitor - he was only 13 and the average inmate was 15 so this seems likely to have been a strained situation. The other 6 Jones children (all were born in Turvey) were called Clara (11), William(10), Eleanor(8), John(7), Frederick (4) and Robert (3). John Jones' cousin, Clara Haggett (23) from Monmouth was the assistant Matron.  The schoolmaster was a a Turvey born man called John Gardner.  He was 48 and lived in with his son Edwin Gardner, aged 23.  They were assisted by a 'Labour Master' (Prison officer) called William Low - he was aged 23 and born in Perth in Scotland.

By 1898. Government aid meant that the Reformatory was self-supporting.

The buildings consisted of:

* large school room

* apartments for the superintendent & matron, assistant matron, schoolmaster & two labour masters

* dormitories & smaller sleeping rooms for the boys

Out buildings included:

* a workshop

*  tool-shed

* bakehouse

* dairy & open shed

* farm buildings including a barn, sheds and stables.

The school farm was originally about 50 acres, with a further 75 acres purchased in 1887.  The boys were employed on the farm and taught various agricultural skills - presumably both to ensure their future employability and to enable the school to be somewhat self-sufficient.

Turvey Reformatory

Turvey Reformatory was also called Bedfordshire Reformatory and Carlton Reformatory.  It was actually in the nearby village of Carlton.

It is now home to a big Emmaus charity shop which was set up in December 2001 by Dom Gregory, Superior of the Monastery at Turvey Abbey.