The jobs around the workhouse were different according to the category that the inmates fell into. The old able-bodied men worked outside in the garden whilst the women worked in the kitchens, Infirmary and the Laundrette. The lowest of all people in the workhouse was by far the un-married mothers and these people were given separate uniforms so people could recognize them, they were known as ‘Jacket Women’. They were often raped and beaten this happened quite often as nobody cared for these people. There began to be a shortage of able-bodied inmates as they were getting jobs, leaving the disabled with nothing left but to work.
Boys and Girls were also a major part of the workhouse system and they were educated in different ways. The boys were taught about shoemaking and tailoring whereas girls were taught needlework and knitting.
There were other jobs around the workhouse apart from the backbreaking work the paupers had to do; these better jobs were given to respected or well-behaved inmates. One of these jobs was to be a ‘Porter’. This was a man who guarded the front gates (rather like a security guard) he let visitors through to the house. There weren’t only paupers entering the workhouse but there were also other people such as Doctors, Councilmen and Inspectors who checked the workhouse was running smoothly and was in charged of what to spend on the house. If you were a porter you would have your own house and you would not be separated from your wife or kids this was great as most of the inmates would never see their ‘loved ones’ again.
The separation walls were not only for the Men and Women of the workhouse they were also for children and the teenagers, able-bodied and lunatics, but the worst of all inmates was the un-married mothers these were seen as worst race of people in Victorian England.
Rules throughout the workhouse were stricter and tougher now as an added punishment cell called the ‘black hole’ was put in. Inmates, if they broke the rules were kept in there for up to 3 days with only bread and water and no lighting. It wasn’t just the rules that made life bad it was the food they had to eat as well. They had set diets on which they had to strictly abide by otherwise there would be punishment. The inmates could not take anything upstairs to there rooms otherwise they would have to suffer the consequences.
The sleeping arrangements in the workhouse were very cramped with often 2,3 or even 4 people sharing a bed at one time, it’s no wonder why homosexuality became quite common throughout the men’s lives.
Due to the illnesses often caught and spread around the workhouse at Gressenhall, Infirmaries were built to look after the people who fell ill. Building these Infirmaries meant that inmates were separated from the main building to be treated and this meant that not so many people caught the disease and therefore reducing the amount of people off sick from work.
The workhouse was a success and had employed many poor people, but the overall downfall of the workhouse was the conditions in which the poor were treated. Conditions were terrible and people started to commit suicide inside the house rather than work. This event mixed with other rumours slowly changed the government’s mind on these workhouses and they were pushed out of the country. With the 1st and the 2nd world wars arriving soon, there were jobs available for the poor, Gressenhall later closed in 1930 and was turned into an old peoples home.
