Becher’s Workhouse on the thousand year care path

  • Medieval Monks

    In 954 the monks would have cared for the needs of the poor, managed the environment, and educated the children. This was considered a sacred duty and they had the knowledge and the resources to undertake it. This arrangement continued until Henry V111’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1556. After this confusion occurred until 1601 when Elizabeth 1st passed a law saying it was down to the birth parish to look after their own poor.

  • Becher's Model Workhouse

    All were welcome but families had to enter as a group and leave as one; outdoor relief (the giving of money or goods to keep paupers out of the institution) would stop; the house would be segregated as this would add to the discipline, control and reinforce the deterrent message; food appropriate to need and age; warmth to keep the House serviceable; clothing appropriate to the weather; medical attention when strictly required and finally; the education of children. Extracted from the Becher Papers.

  • The NHS in the 1950's

    In 1948 The Poor Laws had been abolished but the principles lived on, with a nod to the monks of a thousand years earlier, in the Beverage report the NHS and the welfare state that we know today. Technology now dominates but to old need to care and educate, thankfully remains.

Timeline of the English Poor Law

900s

956- King Eadwig gives land to Oskytel, Bishop of York, to build a Church in Southwell and the granting of a charter to ‘teach the poor of the parish of Southwell the Latin tongue’.

1000s

1108 - Building work commenced on Southwell Minster, which took another 50 years to complete. Within the south transept, is an archway, which was the first site of a facility to teach the ‘poor of the parish’.

1300s

1344 - Royal Ordinance stated that lepers should leave London.

1400s

1494 - Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494 was passed.

1500s

1556 - Dissolution of Monasteries by King Henry V111

1597 - The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597 provides the first complete code of Poor Relief

1600s

1601 - Old Poor Law passed by Queen Elizabeth 1st. This would be the basis of the Poor Law system until 1834

1662 - Poor Relief Act 1662 passed to deal with the problems of settlement

1700s

1773 – Enclosures Act

1782 - Relief of the Poor Act 1782 passed.

1800s

1815 - The French Wars come to an end.

1817 – Framework Knitters strike Nottinghamshire

1819 – Peterloo Massacre

1821- Rev. Robert Lowe 21 denied outdoor relief to 21 labourers in Bingham, Nottinghamshire

1824 – First purpose-built Workhouse, in Upton, near Southwell to a design by Rev R T Becher

1830 - The Swing Riots highlight the possibility of agricultural unrest.

1832 - The Royal Commission into the operation of Poor Laws begins its investigation into the system and takes evidence from the Nottinghamshire Reformers

1834 - Poor Law Amendment Act passed

1842 - Outdoor Labour Test Order allows outdoor relief despite the Poor Law Amendment Act's ban on it

1844 - Outdoor Relief Prohibition Order issued to further discourage outdoor relief

1847 - The Poor Law Commission is abolished and replaced by the Poor Law Board

1871 - The Local Government Board takes the powers of the Poor Law Board

1900s

1905 - Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905-09 set up by the outgoing Conservative government.

1906 - The Liberal Government is elected and begins an ambitious programme of welfare reforms.

1929 - The workhouse system is abolished by the Local Government Act 1929.

1942 – Beveridge Report was published

1948 - The Poor Law system was abolished by the National Assistance Act 1948.

1948 – National Health Service Formed