The Workhouse, also known as Greet House, in the town of Southwell,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England, is a museum operated by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, opened to the public in 2002.Birthday party for workhouse. ''Chad'', 21 March 2012, p.14. Accessed 4 February 2022 Built in 1824, it was the prototype of the 19th-century

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

, and was cited by the Royal Commission on the poor law as the best example among the existing workhouses, before the resulting

New Poor Law The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

of 1834 led to the construction of workhouses across the country. It was designed by

William Adams Nicholson William Adams Nicholson (1803–1853) was an English architect who worked in Lincoln and was a founding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Life Born on 8 August 1803 at Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was the son of James Nich ...

, an architect of Southwell and Lincoln, together with the Revd. John T. Becher, a pioneer of workhouse and prison reform involving daily tasks of hard labour by breaking stones and recycling of

oakum Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for s ...

."Art exhibits will strike a balance". ''Chad'', 24 August 2011, p.31. Accessed 8 April 2023 It is described by the National Trust as the best-preserved workhouse in England. The building remained in use until the early 1990s, when it was used to provide temporary accommodation for mothers and children. Its acquisition by the National Trust reflected the organisation's wish to broaden its interests and to ensure the continued existence of a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

that was potentially to be turned into residential flats. Restoration work began with roof repairs in 2000 and is ongoing. Many rooms have been redecorated as they would have looked in the 19th century and buildings, walls and privies, which had been demolished in the 20th century, have been reinstated. The laundry drying room was opened in March 2012, co-inciding with long-service presentations to staff and volunteers by (then) National Trust director-general,

Fiona Reynolds Dame Fiona Claire Reynolds (born 29 March 1958) is a British former civil servant and chair of the National Audit Office. She was previously Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Director-General of the National Trust. She is the current ...

. In 2013, the site received the

Sandford Award The Sandford Award, previously the Sandford Award for Heritage Education, is a British and Irish award for education programmes at heritage sites. Its website describes it as "an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programm ...

for Heritage Education, as a learning-facility for local schoolchildren.The Workhouse National Trust, Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Southwell case Study, Heritage Education Trust. Retrieved 23 May 2022 In 2015 the property was featured in '' 24 Hours in the Past''.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

The Workhouseand Infirmary, information at the National Trust
*
BBC Radio 4, 2007/08: Fearnought (poems for Southwell Workhouse)
{{coord, 53.0810, -0.9393, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire National Trust properties in Nottinghamshire Workhouses in Nottinghamshire Museums in Nottinghamshire History museums in Nottinghamshire Southwell, Nottinghamshire Upton, Newark and Sherwood

See also

References

External links