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IN May, 1714, the townspeople decided to provide forthwith a House of Correction, “for the accommodation of able-bodied persons, who were unwilling to work; the Almshouse never having been intended for the entertainment of such scandalous persons.” No action was taken, however, until 1820, when it was voted that the Selectmen, Overseers of the Poor, and the Town Treasurer be authorized to erect a House of Correction. In their report to the townspeople, February 13, 1720, this committee recommended as a site for the new building the lot adjacent to and below the Almshouse; which lot they described as extending from the upper part of the Burying-Ground northward; and fronting westward toward the west side of the Almshouse. The new building was about fifty feet long, and twenty feet wide, with a stud of fourteen feet. It contained a common or middle room, whereof one end was for the accommodation of men, and “t’other for women.” The new Bridewell was a brick structure, its walls being “two brick thick,” and its cost was about three hundred and fifty pounds sterling. The committee recommended that the Keeper of the Workhouse should be appointed Master of the House of Correction; and that “a whipper” should be in constant attendance, subject to the Master’s order. These suggestions were duly approved and adopted by the Town. The site of the Bridewell corresponded in part with the present Union Club-House lot. In May, 1741, a parcel of the Common Land, adjoining the Almshouse, was granted, whereon a new brick building, ninety feet long, was set up for the benefit of the Poor.