| I think this plan dates from the
1884 enlargement. The block workshops give you an idea of the nature of
work the inmates were expected to take part in at that time. The mats were
rag mats (you can see many examples of this sort of thing at St Fagan's
museum), they were made of any old rags or clothes that were around. The
oakum workshop was probably the most unpopular place in the workhouse.
Inmates hated picking oakum and would do anything to avoid it. In 1855, a
woman Ann John, refused to pick oakum and was locked in a blacked out
punishment room for four hours.
The tailor would have plenty of work repairing
clothes and making clothes for new inmates, the shoemaker would have a
similar task. The presence of a tool store indicates the need for large
numbers of tools to work the fields behind at the rear of the workhouse. |