The mid-nineteenth century was the heyday of the soup kitchen in England.  Almost every town and village provided soup charitably to its local poor during wintertime.  Between 20 and 30% of the population might be receiving soup in hard times.  Despite their prevalence, almost all the institutions have vanished, like the steam from simmering soup, leaving only a faint aroma, a thin trail of documentary evidence and occasionally a building. Using the speaker’s recent and ongoing research, the presentation will explore what these soup kitchens were like and who went there, using examples from across England.  By reassembling the fragmentary evidence  from these overlooked institutions, we will get a flavour of the charity and the relationships between rich and poor at a time of great social division and change. 

Phil Carstairs is a historical archaeologist and buildings historian specialising in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  He has recently completed a PhD on nineteenth-century soup kitchens at the University of Leicester, and published several articles on the topic.  He is currently carrying out further research on London soup kitchens and early twentieth century suburban houses.  His interests include the archaeology of buildings and landscapes and the history of food and welfare.