It is generally known that Clement Attlee, leader of the Labor Party, 1934 to 1955, and Prime Minister, 1945 to 1951, was influenced by the writings of John Ruskin, especially Stones of Venice (1851–53). This essay does not merely gesture to the extension of Ruskin’s ideas into the radical post-war government led by Attlee but, rather, connects Ruskin to Attlee through the university settlement of Toynbee Hall. Established in 1884 by the Reverend Samuel and Henrietta Barnett in Whitechapel, Toynbee Hall was shaped around a commitment to serve the poor via education and recreation and, in turn, shaped a social movement dedicated to solving the problem of poverty in cities. The influence of Ruskin on Toynbee Hall will be examined from two directions. First, through the work of Octavia Hill and a charitable housing project in Marylebone for which she received early financial support from Ruskin. Second, through the ways in which the Barnetts modified and adapted the notion of the Gothic into a radical agenda for social change. That Clement Attlee was a resident of Toynbee Hall underlines how the movement crafted by the Barnetts in Whitechapel was formative not only for social workers but also the welfare state.