Loscoe Women's Institute

The Workhouse - Southwell and Southwell Minster

Updated 24th January 2010

The Workhouse and Southwell Minster
A visit to a restored Workhouse in Southwell.

Once again our pick-up point was Loscoe Post Office
where we waited for our Glovers Coach to take us on our trip to
The Workhouse at Southwell

Our driver seemed to take a rather long way round to get to Southwell and so we were a little
late arriving at The Workhouse.
Vicky and John, our guides were waiting for us and we soon found ourselves taking the long Paupers Walk
up to the gates of The Workhouse. We stopped by a large vegetable garden and John explained that
men from The Workhouse would have been set to work in the gardens.
All the produce that they grow today is tended by volunteers and is sold in The Workhouse shop.

Vicky and John were extremely knowledgeable on the subject of The Workhouse,
and were able to tell us about the different areas and how the poor were segregated.
Men and women were seperated and children were also kept in seperate areas.
Each wing of The Workhouse had a work yard at the back and a recreation yard at the front.
In each of the work yards there is still an old hand pump,
Norma demonstrated that it still works today.

In the mens workroom was a pile of old rope, some of the men would have spent their days
un-raveling this old rope from ships so it could be used again.
All of the work asigned to the men and women was very mundane and boring with the view being
that it would discourage them from wanting to live there and so look for work.

The toilet was just a hole in the ground.

We all lined up in the mens recreation yard, the restored toilet facilities left gave an insight
into the conditions.
A view from an upstairs window shows how the toilets were built into the wall.
Today you can cross between the two yards one for the idle and unemployed
and the other for the blameless and infirm.
Back in the 19th century these men would have been kept completely seperate.
Each area within The Workhouse had seperated staircases so no groups could mix.
It was exactly the same for the women.

The Master lived in the centre of The Workhouse and was able to look down
into all the yards, to keep a check on the men and women.
The following photos of the inside of Southwell Workhouse,
were all taken by kind permission of the National Trust.
There are photos of the cellars, where vegetables were stored and prepared by the women.
It was very damp and cold down there.
Then we went up to the bedrooms, one room has been left just as it was,
you can see smooth areas on the floor where the beds would have been and feet had not trodden.

There would have been rats in the cellars.

The range in the kitchen is not the original, but the space only allows for one of that size.
They would probably have had other means of cooking food as the range would not have been
large enough to cooked for over 150 paupers who could live in The Workhouse.

Children that came to the workhouse were taken from there mothers at the age of three years.
All the children were given an education and trained to go into jobs outside the workhouse.

The National Trust have none of the original fixtures from when Southwell was a Workhouse.
Although they have some ideas on what the bedrooms would have been like.
The women's bedroom has been furnished with metal beds with straw mattresses to give some
impression of how the room could have looked.
All Workhouse inmates had their own clothes taken away and stored, they were given a uniform
for day time and probable a linen shift for night wear.

Glad we don't have to live in a Workhouse.

In the 1960's Southwell Workhouse became a bedsit for homeless families,
They lived in one room and had very basic facilities.

The National Trust have restored Southwell Workhouse as a museum.
I would highly recommend a visit. Groups can have guided tours with very knowledgeable guides.
School groups are welcome and children can dress as paupers and spend a day in The Workhouse.
You can click on the link at the top of the page to go to The Workhouse website
for full details of opening times.

Before we went back to the coach Vicky and John took us to the old infirmary building
where we were offered drinks and biscuits, we also had the oppurtunity to ask any questions.
Our thanks go to Vicky and John for making our Workhouse experience so interesting.

Then it was back on the coach for the short drive into Southwell.
We had 2 hours in Southwell which gave us time to find some lunch, and visit the Minster.
A few of us found a lovely cafe called Gossips and enjoyed a cream tea.
Others went to a Public house or had their packed lunch in the grounds of the Minster.

Norma, Chris and Eve wonder what Audrey has bought.

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