Known as the
"Greet House" in Southwell, Nottinghamshire was the earliest workhouse in Great Briton.
Built in 1824 it was the prototype of the 19th-century 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 of 1834 led to the construction of workhouses across the country. It is described by the National Trust as the best-preserved workhouse in England.
The Master and Matron lived in the middle section. Families were separated on entering with men on the left and women on the right and with the children to the rear of the building. The sexes were not allowed to meet and any infraction were dealt with harshly.
Both sexes were made to work from early morning to night with the idea that being poor was not a good thing to be and for those who came into the workhouse institutions did so in the very most desperate of circumstance and would try to leave as soon a possible..
The Southwell Workhouse held 150 people.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Workhouse,_Southwell
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/workhouse-southwell/ 