Colin took myself and the Pitt Stop Heritage Group to the Gressenhall Museum on Monday and a very interesting trip it was! Obviously workhouses were not pleasant places to be and the last resort for many people, we’ve all seen the scenes in Oliver Twist, but what surprised me was that they did provide a number of benefits to the inhabitants which I wasn’t aware of. To access a very short whistle-stop overview of a workhouse, please select the following link and then press play on the film titled Voices From the Workhouse, you may need to move the red bar back to the start:
https://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/gressenhall-farm-and-workhouse/voices-from-the-workhouse
Here is a link that informs you of the history of the Gressenhall Workhouse which originally started as a House of Industry in 1777 which was another name for a workhouse. You will note that such benefits as education for the children and the infirmary weren’t introduced until the late 19th century. Why did it become known as Beech House or Beech Hill? And what role did it play in the First World War? To find out the answers to these questions and more information please select the following link:
Here is an article for those that would like more information on the Victorian Workhouse:
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Victorian-Workhouse/
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