Built in 1824, the Workhouse is the best-preserved example of the hundreds of workhouses built across the United Kingdom. This particular workhouse was commissioned by the Reverend John Becher, a clergyman, and a magistrate but he is best known as a social reformer.
Born to parents from Cork, Ireland, in 1770 he moved to Southwell in 1792 after being educated at Oxford and becoming ordained as a priest.
Looking after the poor was a national social issue throughout the Elizabethan and mid-Victorian years.
To try and resolve this, Becher and other social reformers devised the ‘workhouse test’, the rule that no relief be granted to able-bodied people without them entering a workhouse.
It was Becher’s idea that local parishes combine funds and build a workhouse to house the destitute rather than each parish supporting individuals with food, fuel and clothing.
Up to 158 inmates at a time, from 62 parishes, entered this building as a last resort. Becher’s view was that workhouses should be a ‘deterrent’ to ensure that only the truly destitute would submit themselves to such a harsh regime.
It was also intended to achieve a ‘moral’ improvement, with the poor providing for themselves if at all possible. Adults were divided into categories: those unable to work (called ‘blameless’) and those capable of work but unemployed (considered ‘idle and profligate able-bodied’).
They were further subdivided into men and women and children were kept separate. Each group lived in different areas, meaning families couldn’t meet.
Inmates were fed, clothed, and housed and some were made to work. Children received a form of education.
Becher’s ideas were based on the social welfare schemes that evolved after the Old Poor Law of 1601. Their revolutionary but strict system attracted much attention.
The Poor Law Commission used their model to inform the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, known as the New Poor Law. In 1929 the New Poor Law system was disbanded, and workhouses were handed over to local authorities. Most continued either as hospitals or, like The Workhouse, as institutions for the poor, homeless and elderly.
With the advent of the modern welfare system in 1948, the building’s use changed, providing temporary homeless accommodation until 1976.
It was mainly used for staff accommodation and storage until the 1980s while the rest of the site became a residential home for the elderly.
Visiting the Workhouse was an interesting experience. There is a crop garden, that is maintained by staff, much in the same way it would have been in the days of the Workhouse – it was full of produce including rhubarb, beans, potatoes and much more. The National Trust offers guided tours of the garden itself – but we had missed these for the day. So, instead, we headed inside to the main Workhouse building.
The rooms of the Workhouse have been laid out much in the same way they would have been when it was in use, including the kitchen, the school room, the scullery, and dormitories. Display panels give more insight into the day-to-day life of the inmates. There is a clever use of information on the furniture and clothing laid around the rooms. It was very nicely done. And if you want more detail there is a tablet that you can pick up at the start of the tour and take around with you – as well as a good number of docents scattered throughout the property who can give you more information. As well as giving facts about the history of the Workhouse there are individual stories about some of the people who spent time here across the decades. It was sobering that some of these tales dated back to the 1970s – so were within our lifetime. A couple of the rooms have been preserved from the 1960s and 70s when parts of the Workhouse were used to house homeless families.
After looking around the Workhouse we went across to the Infirmary. Every workhouse had a designated area for use as an infirmary. These were within the existing workhouse buildings and were often lacking in sanitation and unfit for purpose. The Firbeck Infirmary at the Workhouse is open to the public and has displays on how it operated from its time as a hospital to when it was a home for the elderly. There is also a café in the Infirmary – which we of course had to visit!
Planning your visit
Getting to the Workhouse
By road
13 miles from Nottingham on A612 and 8 miles from Newark via A617 and A612.
Parking: Free
Sat Nav: Please note, some services such as Google Maps will not send you to our front entrance. To help, please look for The Workhouse on ‘Upton Road, NG25 0PT’.
On foot
Robin Hood Way
By train
Newark Castle 7 miles; Newark North Gate 7½ miles; Nottingham 13 miles
By bus
regular services from Newark, Nottingham and Mansfield bus stations
By bicycle
National Byway (Heritage Cycle Route)
The best time to visit Nottingham
Nottingham, a city located in the United Kingdom, experiences a Marine West Coast climate described as warm summer conditions according to the Köppen climate classification (Cfb). This climate type is characterised by mild temperatures throughout the year, and precipitation patterns that do not have pronounced wet or dry seasons.
The ideal time to visit Nottingham would be between May and September. During these months, the city experiences average high temperatures ranging from 15.5°C (59.9°F) up to 20.5°C (68.9°F), offering a comfortably warm climate for explorers. The daylight hours are longer, with an average of 15.8 hours per day in May, climbing to 16.8 hours in June, so visitors can squeeze in plenty of sightseeing. Furthermore, rainfalls between these months range from 14mm (0.55″) to 27mm (1.06″) providing occasional showers that break the monotony of continuous warmth.
Between January and February are generally less appealing times to visit Nottingham. These months witness cooler temperatures, with average lows falling between 1.3°C (34.3°F) to 1.8°C (35.2°F). The daylight hours are shorter, with January having the least daylight at 8.2 hours. Moreover, these months see a relative increase in wind speeds. January sees the highest wind speed at around 18.3km/h (11.4mph) making the cold feel even colder.
