The Home For Penitent Females was opened in 1870 at Finsbury Road, Brighton, by the Reverend George Wagner, a member of the celebrated clerical family.
It was a refuge for girls considered to be in moral danger. Later it accepted unmarried pregnant women who worked in the laundry attached to the building.
Lack of money forced its closure in 1918 but it reopened as the Albion Church Army Home For Girls the following year.
It was demolished in 1958.
A new book called Hilly Laine To Hanover (Brighton Books Publishing, £9.99) gives an account of the long hours worked by inmates, who arose at 5.30am in summer and continued until 8pm.
In its last years, the building was occupied by the furniture firm Bevan Funnell and was reputed to be haunted.
A block of flats was later built on the site.
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