During Victorian times, the divide between rich and poor grew considerably. The 1823 Inclosure Act, which converted arable land to pasture and increased mechanisation, led to widespread unemployment and low wages in Thame, where fifty per cent of adult men were agricultural labourers.

The Thame Union Workhouse on Oxford Road (subsequently Rycotewood College and now houses) was built in 1836 to house 350 people from thirty-five parishes, including Chalgrove, Long Crendon, Tetsworth, Chinnor and three in Thame itself.

As well as providing poor relief to those who could no longer afford to live at home, it was also a pest house for infectious diseases and its inmates were classified as ‘patients, paupers and lunatics’.