The Workhouse often evokes the grim Victorian world of Oliver Twist, but its story is a fascinating mix of social history, politics, economics and architecture. This site is dedicated to the workhouse — its buildings, inmates, staff and administrators, even its poets...
 
NOTICE BOARD

In ITV's new two-part Secrets from the Workhouse (begins Tuesday 25th June at 9pm), five well-known faces — presenter Fern Britton, actress Keira Chaplin, actor Brian Cox, actress Felicity Kendal and author Barbara Taylor Bradford — go back to the sites of the workhouses where their ancestors lived to find out what happened to them.

Just published — another great book from Peter Higginbotham...

A Grim Almanac of the Workhouse looks at the darker side of the workhouse, with true and often shocking stories of inmates cutting their own throats, abuse by workhouse staff of inmates and of each other, murderous attacks on workhouse officials, disastrous fires and explosions, romantic intrigues, the occupants of coffins being tipped on the floor, and practical jokes that went terribly wrong...

New! online tours - The Workhouse Museum and North Surrey District School
Newly available: 'Indoor Paupers' - the classic first-hand account of life inside a London workhouse. New - Free access to the British Newspaper Archive for FindMyPast subscribers.
Voices From The Workhouse A diverse collection of writings — autobiography, letters, poetry, graffiti, inspection report etc. — by individuals with first-hand knowledge of the workhouse, whether as inmate, staff, official, visitor, or under-cover journalist. More....
OUT NOW! The Workhouse Encylopedia is an A-to-Z cornucopia of everything you ever wanted to know about the workhouse in one volume! With more than 250 articles, its 480 pages are packed with facts, figures, maps, charts, tables, statistics, and more than 150 photos and illustrations. Amongst the comprehensive and detailed appendices are the complete text of the official 1847 workhouse rule-book, and a directory of the locations and other details of hundreds of workhouses and associated institutions across the British Isles. The Workhouse Encylopedia includes a huge amount of information not found on the Workhouse web site and will rapidly become the reference book that you'll never want to be without!
 
Order online at The History Press website.
Workhouse talks diary
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How to get a workhouse building listed.
Liverpool parish records 14 Day Free Trial 300x250: Yorkshire Parish Records
NEW! Living the Poor Life: a guide to the Poor Law Union Correspondence c.1834-1871 held at the National Archives by Paul Carter and Natalie Whistance. More details...
Life in a Victorian Workhouse by Peter Higginbotham. A short, richly illustrated and very readable introduction to the history of the workhouse system. Includes sections on the origins of the institution, workhouse buildings, food, daily routine, children, the elderly, medical care, tramps and vagrants, workhouse staff, the workhouse in Scotland and Ireland, the workhouse in art and literature, and places to visit. Now Available.
The Prison Cookbook by Peter Higginbotham. The fascinating and often gory history of the English Prison. Did you know the guillotine was in use in Halifax in the 16th century? Or that criminals really were once boiled alive? Or that Dartmoor was originally built for French Prisoners of War? Until the 19th century, prisoners had to supply their own food - rather a problem if you were a debtor. In the 1870s, some convicts were so hungry they ate candles, grass, dead mice, and earth worms! Includes a 1901 prison cookbook to try out what it really meant to be 'doing porridge!' Now Available.
New Images on the Website

Meriden Workhouse, Warwickshire.

Huntingdon Workhouse.