Perhaps a vessel used to wash clothes in 1868 ?

[morris.merryweather]

From a 1868 diary entry - any idea's for the work after wash ?

'some thief stole some linning [assume means linen] out of the wash _______ at the back door.'

[Gadget]

The nearest that I can think of is a 'poncher', with various spellings. Maybe written as pounchore  or similar here.

I've always thought it was a plunger type of tool rather than a container for clothes/washing. My mother had one in the 1940s!

http://www.oldandinteresting.com/laundry-ponches-punches.aspx

[ptdrifter]

Could it be something..store, where the washing was kept?

[JenB]

I think the word might be panshon (what looks like an 're' at the end of the word is actually a rather elongated 'n').

A panshon/pancheon was an earthenware vessel, often used in the dairy, but also used for other purposes.

Various usages are listed in the Dialect Dictionary here  https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi04wrig/page/416/mode/2up?view=theater

[ptdrifter]

I withdraw my suggestion, just realised no bar on the letter I took to be a t   

[ShaunJ]

I'll go with misspelled "pancheon".

A zinc wash pancheon was one of the prizes in a celery and vegetable show in Sheepshed in 1883 (for 15th place in the Three Sticks of Celery class):

[NickDub]

Assuming it's a vessel in which dirty clothes were washed or soaked, I'd say a tin (zinc coated iron) bath or wooden tub is most likely, earthenware being rather fragile. The word meant is probably pancheon, as others have said.

[BumbleB]

Mr G has images for pancheons!!

[Gadget]

Pancheon seems much better than my earlier attempt!