workhouses
In British history, a workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work. The earliest recorded example of a workhouse dates to 1652 in Exeter although there is some written evidence that workhouses existed before this date. Records mention a workhouse in 1631 in Abingdon. Workhouse conditions were deliberately harsh to deter the able-bodied idle poor from relying on them. Men and women were segregated and children were separated from their parents. In many ways the treatment in a workhouse was little different from that in a prison, leaving many inmates feeling that they were being punished for the crime of poverty. The terrible conditions in some workhouses may have led to depression. There were references to workhouse women who would not speak and children who refused to play. There can be little doubt that workhouses were rowdy places. The petty regulations and the requirement of less eligibility meant that relations between staff and inmates were often bad. Low level violence, verbal and sexual abuse were common. Work was provided to keep the inmates busy. It was usually boring, hard and degrading. Examples included crushing bones, stone breaking and picking oakum. Cooking and cleaning in the workhouse kept many busy. To be fair, workhouse conditions did improve as the nineteenth century wore on, although few lived up to the high-minded ideals of many of the founders of the system.
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