Southwell Workhouse
We went to the Southwell Workhouse. It was built in 1824 and is one of the best preserved workhouses in the country. A workhouse used to be where poor people worked and lived. People used to think that if you were poor it was your own fault. Workhouses were feared by all ages. You would work around 16 hours every day and would eat the same meals. For children under nine a typical supper was 4 oz. of bread and 1 pint of milk porridge. You would get roast beef once every year on Christmas. Everyone wore the same clothes so everybody would know they were poor. The workhouse had a nursery and a school-room for kids and a laundry and tailor area for women. Men would do shoemaking, baking, farm working, and building. The workhouse was about as close to a jail as you could get. The only difference is that the people working got a very small wage and that at any time you could choose to leave. The only thing is where would you go? You would have a small amount of money or no money at all. Because of this, families who started poor usually were poor the rest of their life. At the workhouse, families were split up and would get punished if they tried to speak to each other. When we pulled up in front of the Southwell Workhouse my first thought was of how big it is. It really was big. I found out that it was thought of as small. Some workhouses could hold over a thousand people. The Southwell Workhouse only held up to 158 people. When you walk inside you feel like you are in a prison or in a dungeon with light. You walk through rooms where the people slept, ate, and worked. The people untied huge rope. The work was so tough your fingers would bleed. I thought it was interesting how some people thought that it was a good thing while others thought it was bad. I think it had good intentions, but the intentions needed a little tweaking. What do you think?
We went to the Southwell Workhouse. It was built in 1824 and is one of the best preserved workhouses in the country. A workhouse used to be where poor people worked and lived. People used to think that if you were poor it was your own fault. Workhouses were feared by all ages. You would work around 16 hours every day and would eat the same meals. For children under nine a typical supper was 4 oz. of bread and 1 pint of milk porridge. You would get roast beef once every year on Christmas. Everyone wore the same clothes so everybody would know they were poor. The workhouse had a nursery and a school-room for kids and a laundry and tailor area for women. Men would do shoemaking, baking, farm working, and building. The workhouse was about as close to a jail as you could get. The only difference is that the people working got a very small wage and that at any time you could choose to leave. The only thing is where would you go? You would have a small amount of money or no money at all. Because of this, families who started poor usually were poor the rest of their life. At the workhouse, families were split up and would get punished if they tried to speak to each other. When we pulled up in front of the Southwell Workhouse my first thought was of how big it is. It really was big. I found out that it was thought of as small. Some workhouses could hold over a thousand people. The Southwell Workhouse only held up to 158 people. When you walk inside you feel like you are in a prison or in a dungeon with light. You walk through rooms where the people slept, ate, and worked. The people untied huge rope. The work was so tough your fingers would bleed. I thought it was interesting how some people thought that it was a good thing while others thought it was bad. I think it had good intentions, but the intentions needed a little tweaking. What do you think?
That is cruel, but interesting
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