'Friday nights were bath nights. Immediately after tea we were given a
good scrub with the brushes the girls used on the floor. No fancy smelling
soaps, just carbolic and should this get in our eyes it was really painful. Then
we were given a flannel nightshirt each. Some only just covered our knees
because they had already been cut down to repair other nightshirts. Then we
were lined up in front of the Matron who gave us a dose of brimstone and treacle
then off to bed.'
Such was the fear and dread of 'ending one's days in the workhouse' that even
in recent years older people could recall the feelings of horror that such a
threat conjured up.
That a system introduced to help the poor and destitute could become such a
reviled and feared institution is a mystery to most of us today, but a study of
it can repay with a better understanding of a broader social, political,
economic and even architectural history of Britian.
Increasingly today little remains of these great and gloomy edifices,
although some found new uses and survive. People are often surprised to discover
that a former workhouse building still exists their their locality.
This book takes a look at both surviving and lost examples of workhouse
buildings in the North of England, covering the old counties of Cumberland,
Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire.
Family, local and social historians will all find it a source of useful
reference and for the general reader it will provide an interesting account of
an institution that few were sorry to see the end of.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Cumberland
2. Durham
3. Lancashire
4. Northumberland
5. Westmorland
6. Yorkshire: East Riding
7. Yorkshire: North Riding
8. Yorkshire: West Riding
Workhouse Records
Record Repositories
Further Reading
