112-619: Llantrisant ( Welsh pronunciation: [ɬanˈtrɪsant] ; " Parish of the Three Saints ") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf , within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan , Wales , lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun . The three saints of the town's name are SS. Illtyd , Gwynno , and Dyfodwg . Llantrisant is a hilltop settlement, at an altitude of 174 m (571 ft) above sea level . The town
224-425: A "romantic, conservative critique" of the "degeneration of English moral and aesthetic values". By the 1840s some of the enthusiasm for Kempthorne's designs had waned. With limited space in built-up areas, and concerns over the ventilation of buildings, some unions moved away from panopticon designs. Between 1840 and 1870 about 150 workhouses with separate blocks designed for specific functions were built. Typically
336-480: A 13th-century warrior, believed to be Cadwgan , lord of Miskin , a valuable Welsh church monument . The interior was restored in 1874 by Welsh neo-gothic designer John Prichard . The former parish office built 1873 on George Street is now a private home. The second religious building in Llantrisant is Tabor Baptist Chapel, built in 1828. It is in on an elevated site next to Llantrisant Castle, accessed by steps from
448-673: A bucket in the middle of the floor for sanitation. The bedding on offer could be very basic: the Poor Law authorities in Richmond in London in the mid-1840s provided only straw and rags, although beds were available for the sick. In return for their night's accommodation vagrants might be expected to undertake a certain amount of work before leaving the next day; for instance at Guisborough men were required to break stones for three hours and women to pick oakum, two hours before breakfast and one after. Until
560-434: A circular or oval embankment with a protective stockade , surrounded by wooden or stone huts. Unlike Saxon practice , these establishments were not chapels for the local lords but almost separate tribes, initially some distance away from the secular community . Over time, however, it became common for prosperous communities to become either monasteries forbidden to lay residents or fully secular communities controlled by
672-515: A common element of Celtic placenames in the British Isles and Brittany , especially of Welsh toponymy . In Welsh the (often mutated ) name of a local saint or a geomorphological description follows the Llan morpheme to form a single word: for example Llanfair is the parish or settlement around the church of St. Mair (Welsh for " Mary "). Goidelic toponyms end in -lann . The various forms of
784-486: A cornflour and provisions merchant, and a linen and woolen drapers, also selling boots and shoes. The site was bought in the 1950s by 'Planet Gloves', who manufactured gloves there until the late 1960s. The Model House stood empty for many years before being bought by the local authority to convert into a craft and design centre. In 1989 the Model House re-opened as a craft and design centre. A registered charity, Model House
896-588: A handful to several hundred other inmates; for instance, between 1782 and 1794 Liverpool 's workhouse accommodated 900–1200 indigent men, women and children. The larger workhouses such as the Gressenhall House of Industry generally served a number of communities, in Gressenhall 's case 50 parishes. Writing in 1854, Poor Law commissioner George Nicholls viewed many of them as little more than factories: These workhouses were established, and mainly conducted, with
1008-639: A home in Llantrisant Old Town. In addition to the Model House Craft & Design Centre, now well-established in a former 18th-century workhouse in the town centre, there is a village shop known as the Bullring Stores, a traditional toy shop with added vintage finds, galleries, pubs and restaurants. The history of education in Llantrisant is firmly based in the varied religious institutions and Sunday School services which rapidly flourished between
1120-425: A less intimidating face. One surviving example is the gateway at Ripon, designed somewhat in the style of a medieval almshouse. A major feature of this new generation of buildings is the long corridors with separate wards leading off for men, women and children. By 1870 the architectural fashion had moved away from the corridor design in favour of a pavilion style based on the military hospitals built during and after
1232-435: A note admitting them directly to the workhouse. Alternatively they might be offered any necessary money or goods to tide them over until the next meeting of the guardians, who would decide on the appropriate level of support and whether or not the applicants should be assigned to the workhouse. Workhouses were designed with only a single entrance guarded by a porter, through which inmates and visitors alike had to pass. Near to
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#17328453462671344-577: A parent discharged him- or herself then the children were also discharged, to prevent them from being abandoned. The comic actor Charlie Chaplin , who spent some time with his mother in Lambeth workhouse, records in his autobiography that when he and his half-brother returned to the workhouse after having been sent to a school in Hanwell , he was met at the gate by his mother Hannah, dressed in her own clothes. Desperate to see them again she had discharged herself and
1456-514: A profit by utilising the free labour of their inmates. Most were employed on tasks such as breaking stones, crushing bones to produce fertiliser, or picking oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike. As the 19th century wore on, workhouses increasingly became refuges for the elderly, infirm, and sick rather than the able-bodied poor, and in 1929 legislation was passed to allow local authorities to take over workhouse infirmaries as municipal hospitals. Although workhouses were formally abolished by
1568-476: A punishment book, which was examined regularly by the workhouse guardians, locally elected representatives of the participating parishes with overall responsibility for the running of the workhouse. Although the commissioners were responsible for the regulatory framework within which the Poor Law Unions operated, each union was run by a locally elected board of guardians, comprising representatives from each of
1680-424: A role similar to that trialled by Buckinghamshire magistrate Matthew Marryott . Between 1714 and 1722 he experimented with using the workhouse as a test of poverty rather than a source of profit, leading to the establishment of a large number of workhouses for that purpose. Nevertheless, local people became concerned about the competition to their businesses from cheap workhouse labour. As late as 1888, for instance,
1792-495: A similar dilemma. It was provided free in the workhouse but had to be paid for by the "merely poor"; free primary education for all children was not provided in the UK until 1918. Instead of being "less eligible", conditions for those living in the workhouse were in certain respects "more eligible" than for those living in poverty outside. Hush-a-bye baby, on the tree top, When you grow old, your wages will stop, When you have spent
1904-419: A small fee to the ladies for each child delivered, but most of the cost was met by charities or the Poor Law Unions. As far as possible, elderly inmates were expected to undertake the same kind of work as the younger men and women, although concessions were made to their relative frailty. Or they might be required to chop firewood, clean the wards, or carry out other domestic tasks. In 1882 Lady Brabazon, later
2016-653: A statue of Dr William Price a pioneer of cremation . The first workhouse in Glamorgan opened in Llantrisant in May 1784, using a number of adapted cottages on Swan Street and part of the Black Cock pub on Yr Allt, a road to the south west of the Bull Ring, between the parish church (to the west) and the castle (to the east). The Union Workhouse was built in 1884 on the Bull Ring – west of where Dr Price's statue stands today and behind
2128-419: A striped cotton shirt, jacket and trousers, and a cloth cap, and for women a blue-and-white striped dress worn underneath a smock. Shoes were also provided. In some establishments certain categories of inmate were marked out by their clothing; for example, at Bristol Incorporation workhouse, prostitutes were required to wear a yellow dress and pregnant single women a red dress; such practices were deprecated by
2240-450: A view to deriving profit from the labour of the inmates, and not as being the safest means of affording relief by at the same time testing the reality of their destitution. The workhouse was in truth at that time a kind of manufactory, carried on at the risk and cost of the poor-rate, employing the worst description of the people, and helping to pauperise the best. By 1832 the amount spent on poor relief nationally had risen to £7 million
2352-513: A weekly rotation, the various meals selected on a daily basis, from a list of foodstuffs. For instance, a breakfast of bread and gruel was followed by dinner, which might consist of cooked meats, pickled pork or bacon with vegetables, potatoes, yeast dumpling , soup and suet , or rice pudding . Supper was normally bread, cheese and broth , and sometimes butter or potatoes. The larger workhouses had separate dining rooms for males and females; workhouses without separate dining rooms would stagger
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#17328453462672464-623: A workhouse to set poorer people to work". The origins of the workhouse can be traced to the Statute of Cambridge 1388 , which attempted to address the labour shortages following the Black Death in England by restricting the movement of labourers, and ultimately led to the state becoming responsible for the support of the poor. However, mass unemployment following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815,
2576-404: A year, more than 10 shillings (£0.50) per head of population, up from £2 million in 1784. The large number of those seeking assistance was pushing the system to "the verge of collapse". The economic downturn following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century resulted in increasing numbers of unemployed. Coupled with developments in agriculture that meant less labour
2688-550: Is believed that the castle was destroyed in 1404 by Owain Glyndŵr though there is no written proof of the event. John Leland reported the castle as ruined in his writings in 1536. Llantrisant Guildhall , which was the meeting place of the borough council, was completed in 1773. By the early 1900s Llantrisant had eight chapels, as well as the Llantrisant Parish Church Only two religious buildings remain. The elder
2800-558: Is home to the Royal Mint . There is evidence for settlements in and around Llantrisant stretching back over three millennia. Two Bronze Age burial mounds are on Mynydd Garthmaelwg, the opposite side of the Ely Valley . A 1.05 metres (3 ft 5 in) tall, by 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) wide, possibly Bronze Age, standing stone , was discovered in Miskin during excavations prior to
2912-406: Is kept of births and deaths, but when smallpox , measles or malignant fevers make their appearance in the house, the mortality is very great. Of 131 inmates in the house, 60 are children. Instead of a workhouse, some sparsely populated parishes placed homeless paupers into rented accommodation, and provided others with relief in their own homes. Those entering a workhouse might join anywhere from
3024-501: Is served by Pontyclun railway station three miles away, which was formerly known as Llantrisant railway station . Trains run by Transport for Wales call at the station. The town is the home of the Royal Mint , which manufactures all British coins. The Royal Mint transferred to Llantrisant in 1967 and its attractions include the Mint's museum. The Mint employs around 900 people. A number of small, independent retailers have successfully found
3136-480: Is the church of 'y tri sant'. The three saints to which the church is dedicated are St. Illtyd , St. Gwynno and St. Dyfodwg . The site is believed to have been a place of Christian worship since at least the 7th century, and in 1096 the parish church was built and dedicated. The church was rebuilt by Richard de Clare in 1246 in the Norman style and in the 15th century the tower was added. Its interior houses an effigy of
3248-620: Is thought that de Clare established the borough of Llantrisant though the exact charter occurred in 1346. In 1346, Llantrisant was granted a Royal Charter months before the archers from the town helped Edward, the Black Prince , win a victory against the French army at the Battle of Crecy . The Llantrisant longbow men were pivotal in the adoption of the English longbow as the missile weapon of choice for
3360-714: The Black Army . The town is home to one of the very longest established male choirs in Wales. Established at least as early as 1898, the choir is a prolific touring choir having sung in the USA, Italy, Cyprus, Slovakia, Poland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. They travel extensively in the UK supporting charity events and singing at concert engagements. The choir has appeared at many notable venues, including The Royal Albert Hall, The Santa Maria Maggiore, Wales Millennium Centre and
3472-524: The Countess of Meath , set up a project to provide alternative occupation for non-able-bodied inmates, known as the Brabazon scheme . Volunteers provided training in crafts such as knitting, embroidery and lace making, all costs initially being borne by Lady Brabazon herself. Although slow to take off, when workhouses discovered that the goods being produced were saleable and could make the enterprise self-financing,
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3584-534: The Crimean War , providing light and well-ventilated accommodation. Opened in 1878, the Manchester Union's infirmary comprised seven parallel three-storey pavilions separated by 80-foot-wide (24 m) "airing yards"; each pavilion had space for 31 beds, a day room, a nurse's kitchen and toilets. By the start of the 20th century new workhouses were often fitted out to an "impressive standard". Opened in 1903,
3696-977: The Early Middle Ages and some place names in Cumbria and surrounding counties have a Brythonic origin. The historic name Llan Lleenawc may have been in this region and named after either Laenauc , a father of Guallauc , or *Lennóc , a saint name. In addition, *landā- , the earlier Brittonic word ancestral to llan occurs in Vindolanda , the name of a Roman fort. Some place names in Scotland have Pictish and Cumbric elements such as aber- and lhan- (also spelled lum- , lon- and lin- ) that are cognate with those in other Brittonic languages. The Gaelic form lann ("enclosure, churchyard") also occurs, and its existence in Pictland may represent adoption into Gaelic of
3808-671: The English crown during the Middle Ages . Llantrisant was one of the eight boroughs constituting the Glamorgan borough following the Act of Union , a status it held until 1918. An ancient tradition called the Beating the Bounds , where local children are bounced by elders on to the boundary stones of the old borough, still occurs every seven years and has its roots set as far back as the 14th century. The rite
3920-500: The M4 motorway construction. An Iron Age hillfort stands on Rhiwsaeson Hill. The enclosure, now known as Caerau Hillfort, measures 230 metres (750 ft) by 180 metres (590 ft). A settlement has existed on this site from at least the beginning of the 6th century, when the poet Aneurin wrote of 'the white houses of Glamorgan' when referring to Llantrisant. It was seized around 1246 by Richard de Clare who built Llantrisant Castle. It
4032-530: The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 , also known as the New Poor Law, which discouraged the allocation of outdoor relief to the able-bodied; "all cases were to be 'offered the house', and nothing else". Individual parishes were grouped into Poor Law Unions , each of which was to have a union workhouse. More than 500 of these were built during the next 50 years, two-thirds of them by 1840. In certain parts of
4144-470: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 , a great deal of anti-Catholic feeling remained. Even in areas with large Catholic populations, such as Liverpool , the appointment of a Catholic chaplain was unthinkable. Some guardians went so far as to refuse Catholic priests entry to the workhouse. Discipline was strictly enforced in the workhouse; for minor offences such as swearing or feigning sickness
4256-497: The hemp from telegraph wires. Others picked oakum using a large metal nail known as a spike, which may be the source of the workhouse's nickname. Bone-crushing, useful in the creation of fertiliser , was a task most inmates could perform, until a government inquiry into conditions in the Andover workhouse in 1845 found that starving paupers were reduced to fighting over the rotting bones they were supposed to be grinding, to suck out
4368-408: The town pump . It became known as The Model House, in the rather optimistic belief that its inmates would lead a life of model Christianity. Two pubs, a shop and a cottage were demolished to make way for the expansion of the workhouse. The building closed as a workhouse in the early 1900s and first became a boarding house, then an inn and later a general store, called County Stores. They were known as
4480-472: The "disorderly" could have their diet restricted for up to 48 hours. For more serious offences such as insubordination or violent behavior the "refractory" could be confined for up to 24 hours, and might also have their diet restricted. Girls were punished in the same way as adults but sometimes in older cases girls were also beaten or slapped, but boys under the age of 14 could be beaten with "a rod or other instrument, such as may have been approved of by
4592-505: The 17th and 19th centuries. The Norman parish church was the starting point for the education movement, although it was one that would take a century or more to fully develop into a successful entity. Sport flourished in Llantrisant for centuries and the remains of a Welsh Handball court dating from the 1790s, stands at the rear of the Workingmen's Club. Llantrisant is also known as the home of Llantrisant Rugby Union Club known locally as
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4704-530: The 19th century wore on non-conformist ministers increasingly began to conduct services within the workhouse, but Catholic priests were rarely welcomed. A variety of legislation had been introduced during the 17th century to limit the civil rights of Catholics, beginning with the Popish Recusants Act 1605 in the wake of the failed Gunpowder Plot that year. Though almost all restrictions on Catholics in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were removed by
4816-778: The British colonies, in particular to Canada and Australia , where it was hoped the fruits of their labour would contribute to the defence of the empire and enable the colonies to buy more British exports. Known as Home Children , the Philanthropic Farm school alone sent more than 1000 boys to the colonies between 1850 and 1871, many of them taken from workhouses. In 1869 Maria Rye and Annie Macpherson , "two spinster ladies of strong resolve", began taking groups of orphans and children from workhouses to Canada, most of whom were taken in by farming families in Ontario . The Canadian government paid
4928-430: The British population may have been accommodated in workhouses at any given time. The New Poor Law Commissioners were very critical of existing workhouses, and generally insisted that they be replaced. They complained in particular that "in by far the greater number of cases, it is a large almshouse, in which the young are trained in idleness, ignorance, and vice; the able-bodied maintained in sluggish sensual indolence;
5040-514: The Cross Keys Hotel. Formerly in the Bull Ring was the Rock and Fountain pub, which became the home of the original Llantrisant Workingmen's Club founded in May 1953 by Seth Morgan, Freeman of Llantrisant. The focal point of the town is the Bull Ring, a commercial square in the centre of the town that was used for bull-baiting , until it was disallowed in 1827 due to unruly crowds. The square contains
5152-534: The Fields , children were trained in spinning flax , picking hair and carding wool, before being placed as apprentices. Workhouses also had links with local industry; in Nottingham , children employed in a cotton mill earned about £60 a year for the workhouse. Some parishes advertised for apprenticeships, and were willing to pay any employer prepared to offer them. Such agreements were preferable to supporting children in
5264-548: The Firewood Cutters Protection Association was complaining that the livelihood of its members was being threatened by the cheap firewood on offer from the workhouses in the East End of London. Many inmates were allocated tasks in the workhouse such as caring for the sick or teaching that were beyond their capabilities, but most were employed on "generally pointless" work, such as breaking stones or removing
5376-507: The Guardians". Children, specifically orphans, who leave the grounds without being discharged or run away from workhouses could be severely disciplined and could be confined with no food or water. The persistently refractory, or anyone bringing "spirituous or fermented liquor" into the workhouse, could be taken before a Justice of the Peace and even gaoled. All punishments handed out were recorded in
5488-559: The High Street. At the highest point of Y Graig is a stone tower known locally as “Billy Wynt”. Also said to have been used as an auxiliary tower with its high up positioning it remains a focal point of history. By the early 19th century the tower was in ruins and in 1890 it was restored as a folly by the Llantrisants' town trust. ‘Y Pwysty’ the weighing house, was located on this site since medieval times. Once known as The Angel Inn, it
5600-547: The Hollywood Bowl. The choir has a wide-ranging membership drawn from all ages and social backgrounds. They sing a mix of music from traditional choral classics, Welsh hymns and modern pop music. Llantrisant has a twinning arrangement with Crécy-en-Ponthieu , France, since 2015. Llan (placename) Llan ( Welsh pronunciation: [ɬan] ) and its variants ( Breton : lan ; Cornish : lann ; Pictish : lhan ; Irish and Scottish Gaelic : lann ) are
5712-510: The Pictish usage. Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse ( Welsh : tloty lit. "poor-house") was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses . The earliest known use of the term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected wthn [ sic ] our borough
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#17328453462675824-565: The Poor Law Commission in a directive issued in 1839 entitled "Ignominious Dress for Unchaste Women in Workhouses", but they continued until at least 1866. Some workhouses had a separate "foul" or "itch" ward, where inmates diagnosed with skin diseases such as scabies could be detained before entering the workhouse proper. Also not to be overlooked were unfortunate destitute sufferers of mental health disorders, who would be ordered to enter
5936-415: The Poor Law system". Although the 1834 Act allowed for women to become workhouse guardians provided they met the property requirement, the first female was not elected until 1875. Working class guardians were not appointed until 1892, when the property requirement was dropped in favour of occupying rented premises worth £5 a year. Every workhouse had a complement of full-time staff, often referred to as
6048-502: The Relief of the Poor 1601 made parishes legally responsible for the care of those within their boundaries who, through age or infirmity, were unable to work. The Act essentially classified the poor into one of three groups. It proposed that the able-bodied be offered work in a house of correction (the precursor of the workhouse), where the "persistent idler" was to be punished. It also proposed
6160-573: The Royal Mint Museum which runs events and exhibitions around topics of interest. Llantrisant is typical of most locations in the South Wales region, being home to typical upland habitat birds and mammals of the British Isles. The town also contains Llantrisant Common and Pastures , a 113-hectare (280-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest , which is home to several rare plants. Llantrisant
6272-404: The age of two were allowed to remain with their mothers, but by entering a workhouse paupers were considered to have forfeited responsibility for their families. Clothing and personal possessions (with the possible exception of spectacles ) were usually taken from them and stored, to be returned on their discharge. After bathing, they were issued with a distinctive uniform: for men it might be
6384-409: The aged and impotent, children, able-bodied males, and able-bodied females. A common layout resembled Jeremy Bentham 's prison panopticon , a radial design with four three-storey buildings at its centre set within a rectangular courtyard, the perimeter of which was defined by a three-storey entrance block and single-storey outbuildings, all enclosed by a wall. That basic layout, one of two designed by
6496-434: The aged and more respectable exposed to all the misery that is incident to dwelling in such a society". After 1835 many workhouses were constructed with the central buildings surrounded by work and exercise yards enclosed behind brick walls, so-called "pauper bastilles". The commission proposed that all new workhouses should allow for the segregation of paupers into at least four distinct groups, each to be housed separately:
6608-567: The architect Sampson Kempthorne (his other design was octagonal with a segmented interior, sometimes known as the Kempthorne star ), allowed for four separate work and exercise yards, one for each class of inmate. Separating the inmates was intended to serve three purposes: to direct treatment to those who most needed it; to deter others from pauperism; and as a physical barrier against illness, physical and mental. The commissioners argued that buildings based on Kempthorne's plans would be symbolic of
6720-647: The beginning of the 20th century some infirmaries were even able to operate as private hospitals. The Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909 reported that workhouses were unsuited to deal with the different categories of resident they had traditionally housed, and recommended that specialised institutions for each class of pauper should be established, in which they could be treated appropriately by properly trained staff. The "deterrent" workhouses were in future to be reserved for "incorrigibles such as drunkards, idlers and tramps". On 24 January 1918
6832-552: The boundaries of the former borough. The last occasion of this event was in June 2017, but the event is now seen as a purely historic tradition and social community event. At nearby Tarren Deusant is a spring with unusual petrosomatoglyph carvings of two faces, two saints (1696), but now six are present (Sharp 1979). Old Town Llantrisant has four pubs: The New Inn, the Bear, the Wheatsheaf and
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#17328453462676944-572: The children; they spent the day together playing in Kennington Park and visiting a coffee shop, after which she readmitted them all to the workhouse. Available data surrounding death rates within the workhouse system is minimal; however, in the Wall to Wall documentary Secrets from the Workhouse , it is estimated that 10% of those admitted to the workhouse after the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act died within
7056-408: The construction of housing for the impotent poor , the old and the infirm, although most assistance was granted through a form of poor relief known as outdoor relief – money, food, or other necessities given to those living in their own homes, funded by a local tax on the property of the wealthiest in the parish. The workhouse system evolved in the 17th century, allowing parishes to reduce
7168-611: The cost of the journey and a "wedding dinner". By the 1830s most parishes had at least one workhouse, but many were badly managed. In his 1797 work, The State of the Poor , Sir Frederick Eden , wrote: The workhouse is an inconvenient building, with small windows, low rooms and dark staircases. It is surrounded by a high wall, that gives it the appearance of a prison, and prevents free circulation of air. There are 8 or 10 beds in each room, chiefly of flocks, and consequently retentive of all scents and very productive of vermin. The passages are in great want of whitewashing. No regular account
7280-480: The cost to ratepayers of providing poor relief. The first authoritative figure for numbers of workhouses comes in the next century from The Abstract of Returns made by the Overseers of the Poor , which was drawn up following a government survey in 1776. It put the number of parish workhouses in England and Wales at more than 1800 (about one parish in seven), with a total capacity of more than 90,000 places. This growth in
7392-440: The country there was a good deal of resistance to these new buildings, some of it violent, particularly in the industrial north. Many workers lost their jobs during the major economic depression of 1837, and there was a strong feeling that what the unemployed needed was not the workhouse but short-term relief to tide them over. By 1838, 573 Poor Law Unions had been formed in England and Wales, incorporating 13,427 parishes, but it
7504-506: The door of a workhouse were at the mercy of the porter, whose decision it was whether or not to allocate them a bed for the night in the casual ward. Those refused entry risked being sentenced to two weeks of hard labour if they were found begging or sleeping in the open and prosecuted for an offence under the Vagrancy Act 1824 . A typical early 19th-century casual ward was a single large room furnished with some kind of bedding and perhaps
7616-456: The end of the 18th century. So keen were some Poor Law authorities to cut costs wherever possible that cases were reported of husbands being forced to sell their wives , to avoid them becoming a financial burden on the parish. In one such case in 1814 the wife and child of Henry Cook, who were living in Effingham workhouse, were sold at Croydon market for one shilling (5p); the parish paid for
7728-560: The entrance building contained offices, while the main workhouse building housed the various wards and workrooms, all linked by long corridors designed to improve ventilation and lighting. Where possible, each building was separated by an exercise yard, for the use of a specific category of pauper. Each Poor Law Union employed one or more relieving officers, whose job it was to visit those applying for assistance and assess what relief, if any, they should be given. Any applicants considered to be in need of immediate assistance could be issued with
7840-419: The entrance were the casual wards for tramps and vagrants and the relieving rooms, where paupers were housed until they had been examined by a medical officer. After being assessed the paupers were separated and allocated to the appropriate ward for their category: boys under 14, able-bodied men between 14 and 60, men over 60, girls under 14, able-bodied women between 14 and 60, and women over 60. Children under
7952-445: The established church. As section 19 of the 1834 Poor Law specifically forbade any regulation forcing an inmate to attend church services "in a Mode contrary to [their] Religious Principles", the commissioners were reluctantly forced to allow non-Anglicans to leave the workhouse on Sundays to attend services elsewhere, so long as they were able to provide a certificate of attendance signed by the officiating minister on their return. As
8064-427: The founding saints of the parish, relatives of the ruling families who invaded Wales during the early Middle Ages. The founder of a new llan was obliged to reside at the site and to eat only once a day, each time taking a bit of bread and an egg and drinking only water and milk. This lasted for forty days, Sundays excepted, after which the land was considered sanctified for ever. The typical llan employed or erected
8176-535: The ground floor shop. The Model House has a programme of art and crafts exhibitions throughout the year and hosts a varied series of workshops, where adults and children may learn the basics of a wide range of contemporary craft skills. The centre closed in December 2009 after the company which ran it, Model House Ltd, went into liquidation. The management of the building was taken over by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council , who after tackling structural problems with
8288-455: The idler". Supporting the destitute was a problem exacerbated by King Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries , which began in 1536. They had been a significant source of charitable relief, and provided a good deal of direct and indirect employment. The Poor Act 1575 went on to establish the principle that if the able-bodied poor needed support, they had to work for it. The Act for
8400-471: The indoor staff. At their head was the governor or master, who was appointed by the board of guardians. His duties were laid out in a series of orders issued by the Poor Law Commissioners. As well as the overall administration of the workhouse, masters were required to discipline the paupers as necessary and to visit each ward twice daily, at 11 am and 9 pm. Female inmates and children under seven were
8512-416: The introduction of new technology to replace agricultural workers in particular, and a series of bad harvests, meant that by the early 1830s the established system of poor relief was proving to be unsustainable. The New Poor Law of 1834 attempted to reverse the economic trend by discouraging the provision of relief to anyone who refused to enter a workhouse. Some Poor Law authorities hoped to run workhouses at
8624-408: The labour shortage caused by the Black Death , a devastating pandemic that killed about one-third of England's population. The new law fixed wages and restricted the movement of labourers, as it was anticipated that if they were allowed to leave their parishes for higher-paid work elsewhere then wages would inevitably rise. According to historian Derek Fraser, the fear of social disorder following
8736-545: The little you made First to the Poorhouse and then to the grave Anonymous verse from Yorkshire By the late 1840s most workhouses outside London and the larger provincial towns housed only "the incapable, elderly and sick". By the end of the century only about 20 per cent of those admitted to workhouses were unemployed or destitute, but about 30 per cent of the population over 70 were in workhouses. The introduction of pensions for those aged over 70 in 1908 did not reduce
8848-524: The local lord. In the later Middle Ages llan also came to denote entire parishes , both as an ecclesiastical region and as a subdivision of a commote or hundred . ( All pages with titles beginning with Llan ) Furthermore, some Welsh exonyms for English settlements contain the element llan , these include: The Cumbric language was spoken in Cumbria and elsewhere in The Old North up until
8960-528: The marrow. The resulting scandal led to the withdrawal of bone-crushing as an employment in workhouses and the replacement of the Poor Law Commission by the Poor Law Board in 1847. Conditions were thereafter regulated by a list of rules contained in the 1847 Consolidated General Order , which included guidance on issues such as diet, staff duties, dress, education, discipline, and redress of grievances. Some Poor Law Unions opted to send destitute children to
9072-471: The master and matron. A typical workhouse accommodating 225 inmates had a staff of five, which included a part-time chaplain and a part-time medical officer. The low pay meant that many medical officers were young and inexperienced. To add to their difficulties, in most unions they were obliged to pay out of their own pockets for any drugs, dressings or other medical supplies needed to treat their patients. A second major wave of workhouse construction began in
9184-437: The matter, which could be arranged without the permission or knowledge of their parents. The supply of labour from workhouse to factory, which remained popular until the 1830s, was sometimes viewed as a form of transportation . While getting parish apprentices from Clerkenwell , Samuel Oldknow 's agent reported how some parents came "crying to beg they may have their Children out again". Historian Arthur Redford suggests that
9296-422: The meal times to avoid any contact between the sexes. Education was provided for the children, but workhouse teachers were a particular problem. Poorly paid, without any formal training, and facing large classes of unruly children with little or no interest in their lessons, few stayed in the job for more than a few months. In an effort to force workhouses to offer at least a basic level of education, legislation
9408-462: The mid-1860s, the result of a damning report by the Poor Law inspectors on the conditions found in infirmaries in London and the provinces. Of one workhouse in Southwark , London, an inspector observed bluntly that "The workhouse does not meet the requirements of medical science, nor am I able to suggest any arrangements which would in the least enable it to do so". By the middle of the 19th century there
9520-565: The number of elderly housed in workhouses, but it did reduce the number of those on outdoor relief by 25 per cent. Responsibility for administration of the Poor Law passed to the Local Government Board in 1871, and the emphasis soon shifted from the workhouse as "a receptacle for the helpless poor" to its role in the care of the sick and helpless. The Diseases Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1883 allowed London workhouse infirmaries to offer treatment to non-paupers as well as inmates, and by
9632-608: The number of workhouses was prompted by the Workhouse Test Act 1723 ; by obliging anyone seeking poor relief to enter a workhouse and undertake a set amount of work, usually for no pay (a system called indoor relief), the Act helped prevent irresponsible claims on a parish's poor rate. The growth was also bolstered by the Relief of the Poor Act 1782 , proposed by Thomas Gilbert . Gilbert's Act
9744-425: The participating parishes, assisted by six ex officio members. The guardians were usually farmers or tradesmen, and as one of their roles was the contracting out of the supply of goods to the workhouse, the position could prove lucrative for them and their friends. Simon Fowler has commented that "it is clear that this [the awarding of contracts] involved much petty corruption, and it was indeed endemic throughout
9856-538: The passage of the Casual Poor Act 1882 vagrants could discharge themselves before 11 am on the day following their admission, but from 1883 onwards they were required to be detained until 9 am on the second day. Those who were admitted to the workhouse again within one month were required to be detained until the fourth day after their admission. Inmates were free to leave whenever they wished after giving reasonable notice, generally considered to be three hours, but if
9968-436: The pauper is always promptly attended by a skilful and well qualified medical practitioner ... if the patient be furnished with all the cordials and stimulants which may promote his recovery: it cannot be denied that his condition in these respects is better than that of the needy and industrious ratepayer who has neither the money nor the influence to secure prompt and careful attendance. The education of children presented
10080-478: The paupers before breakfast and after supper each day. Each Poor Law Union was required to appoint a chaplain to look after the spiritual needs of the workhouse inmates, and he was invariably expected to be from the established Church of England . Religious services were generally held in the dining hall, as few early workhouses had a separate chapel but in some parts of the country, notably Cornwall and northern England , there were more dissenters than members of
10192-432: The plague ultimately resulted in the state, and not a "personal Christian charity", becoming responsible for the support of the poor. The resulting laws against vagrancy were the origins of state-funded relief for the poor. From the 16th century onwards a distinction was legally enshrined between those who were willing to work but could not, and those who were able to work but would not: between "the genuinely unemployed and
10304-543: The poor may have once shunned factories as "an insidious sort of workhouse". From the Jewish point of view ... was the virtual impossibility of complying with the Jewish ritual requirements; the dietary laws could have been followed, if at all, only by virtual restriction to bread and water, and the observance of the Sabbath and Festivities was impossible. Religion played an important part in workhouse life: prayers were read to
10416-459: The recent changes to the provision of poor relief; one assistant commissioner expressed the view that they would be something "the pauper would feel it was utterly impossible to contend against", and "give confidence to the Poor Law Guardians". Another assistant commissioner claimed the new design was intended as a "terror to the able-bodied population", but the architect George Gilbert Scott
10528-444: The responsibility of the matron, as was the general housekeeping. The master and the matron were usually a married couple, charged with running the workhouse "at the minimum cost and maximum efficiency – for the lowest possible wages". A large workhouse such as Whitechapel , accommodating several thousand paupers, employed a staff of almost 200; the smallest may only have had a porter and perhaps an assistant nurse in addition to
10640-513: The roof and outer walls reopened the centre in mid 2010. Llantrisant Castle stands in parkland in the centre of the town though only one wall of the raven tower remains. Although initially built as a wooden fortification it was rebuilt as a stone structure around 1246 by Richard de Clare, Lord of Glamorgan. In 1294 the castle was damaged during the uprising against the Norman overlords, led by Madog ap Llywelyn , and again in 1316 by Llywelyn Bren . It
10752-463: The same legislation in 1930, many continued under their new appellation of Public Assistance Institutions under the control of local authorities. It was not until the introduction of the National Assistance Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6 . c. 29) that the last vestiges of the Poor Law finally disappeared, and with them the workhouses. The Statute of Cambridge 1388 was an attempt to address
10864-590: The scheme gradually spread across the country, and by 1897 there were more than 100 branches. In 1836 the Poor Law Commission distributed six diets for workhouse inmates, one of which was to be chosen by each Poor Law Union depending on its local circumstances. Although dreary, the food was generally nutritionally adequate, and according to contemporary records was prepared with great care. Issues such as training staff to serve and weigh portions were well understood. The diets included general guidance, as well as schedules for each class of inmate. They were laid out on
10976-529: The system. Some Poor Law authorities hoped that payment for the work undertaken by the inmates would produce a profit for their workhouses, or at least allow them to be self-supporting, but whatever small income could be produced never matched the running costs. In the 18th century, inmates were poorly managed, and lacked either the inclination or the skills to compete effectively with free market industries such as spinning and weaving. Some workhouses operated not as places of employment, but as houses of correction,
11088-468: The word are distantly cognate with English land and lawn and presumably initially denoted a specially cleared and enclosed area of land. In late antiquity it came to be applied particularly to the sanctified land occupied by communities of Christian converts . It is part of the name of more than 630 locations in Wales and nearly all have some connection with a local patron saint . These were usually
11200-532: The workhouse at Hunslet in West Riding of Yorkshire had two steam boilers with automatic stokers supplying heating and hot water throughout the building, a generator to provide electricity for the institution's 1,130 electric lamps, and electric lifts in the infirmary pavilion. As early as 1841 the Poor Law Commissioners were aware of an "insoluble dilemma" posed by the ideology behind the New Poor Law: If
11312-511: The workhouse by the parish doctor. The Lunacy Act 1853 did promote the asylum as the institution of choice for patients afflicted with all forms of mental illness. However, in reality, destitute people suffering from mental illness would be housed in their local workhouse. Conditions in the casual wards were worse than in the relieving rooms, and deliberately designed to discourage vagrants, who were considered potential troublemakers and probably disease-ridden. Vagrants who presented themselves at
11424-403: The workhouse: apprenticed children were not subject to inspection by justices, thereby lowering the chance of punishment for neglect; and apprenticeships were viewed as a better long-term method of teaching skills to children who might otherwise be uninterested in work. Supporting an apprenticed child was also considerably cheaper than the workhouse or outdoor relief. Children often had no say in
11536-461: Was a growing realisation that the purpose of the workhouse was no longer solely or even chiefly to act as a deterrent to the able-bodied poor, and the first generation of buildings was widely considered to be inadequate. About 150 new workhouses were built mainly in London, Lancashire and Yorkshire between 1840 and 1875, in architectural styles that began to adopt Italianate or Elizabethan features, to better fit into their surroundings and present
11648-507: Was about half that of providing workhouse accommodation. Outdoor relief was further restricted by the terms of the 1844 Outdoor Relief Prohibitory Order , which aimed to end it altogether for the able-bodied poor. In 1846, of 1.33 million paupers only 199,000 were maintained in workhouses, of whom 82,000 were considered to be able-bodied, leaving an estimated 375,000 of the able-bodied on outdoor relief. Excluding periods of extreme economic distress, it has been estimated that about 6.5% of
11760-548: Was at Y Pwysty that the weight of goods were regulated at the markets and fairs held in the town. The Royal Mint , which produces all British coins, moved from London to Llantrisant in 1967 in order to meet demand when the UK converted to decimal currency. In addition to British coins, the Royal Mint produces circulating coins for approximately 60 countries, as well as medals, bullion coins and bars. The Royal Mint also attracts tourists to Llantrisant to The Royal Mint Experience and
11872-451: Was critical of what he called "a set of ready-made designs of the meanest possible character". Some critics of the new Poor Law noted the similarities between Kempthorne's plans and model prisons, and doubted that they were merely coincidental - Richard Oastler went as far as referring to the institutions as 'prisons for the poor'. Augustus Pugin compared Kempthorne's octagonal plan with the "antient poor hoyse", in what Felix Driver calls
11984-495: Was funded by the Arts Council of Wales since the demise of the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1994, receiving about 35,000 visitors a year. The ground floor contains galleries that include glass, ceramics and designer jewellery from established British and Welsh artists, as well as a local painter. The upper floors have workshops that are used by individual craftspeople, whose work can be purchased either from their studio or from
12096-455: Was intended as a reminder to each generation of the importance of the borough boundaries. The children in question are held under the arms and the legs, and their backside is bounced on each of the stones of the old borough. It is believed that the Beating of the Bounds started in 1346, when Llantrisant was awarded its Royal Charter . This allowed them the freedom to trade without paying tolls within
12208-504: Was intended to allow parishes to share the cost of poor relief by joining together to form unions, known as Gilbert Unions, to build and maintain even larger workhouses to accommodate the elderly and infirm. The able-bodied poor were instead either given outdoor relief or found employment locally. Relatively few Gilbert Unions were set up, but the supplementing of inadequate wages under the Speenhamland system did become established towards
12320-491: Was needed on the land, along with three successive bad harvests beginning in 1828 and the Swing Riots of 1830, reform was inevitable. Many suspected that the system of poor relief was being widely abused. In 1832 the government established a Royal Commission to investigate and recommend how relief could best be given to the poor. The result was the establishment of a centralised Poor Law Commission in England and Wales under
12432-474: Was not until 1868 that unions were established across the entire country: the same year that the New Poor Law was applied to the Gilbert Unions. Despite the intentions behind the 1834 Act, relief of the poor remained the responsibility of local taxpayers, and there was thus a powerful economic incentive to use loopholes such as sickness in the family to continue with outdoor relief; the weekly cost per person
12544-582: Was passed in 1845 requiring that all pauper apprentices should be able to read and sign their own indenture papers. A training college for workhouse teachers was set up at Kneller Hall in Twickenham during the 1840s, but it closed in the following decade. Some children were trained in skills valuable to the area. In Shrewsbury , the boys were placed in the workhouse's workshop, while girls were tasked with spinning , making gloves and other jobs "suited to their sex, their ages and abilities". At St Martin in
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