Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service: Gressenhall Workhouse

Other websites

[Workhouses.org - extensive workhouse history]

Extensive workhouse site

Gressenhall Workhouse

History of the Workhouse
The museum is housed in a large former workhouse. Between 1777 and 1948, the workhouse provided food, lodgings and work for ill or destitute people from the local parishes. The workhouse was a place of shame and sorrow and until recently many people felt that its story was too sensitive to tell. After a short period as an old people’s home the Gressenhall workhouse re-opened in 1977 as a museum. A group of volunteers, the Workhouse Trail Guides began to unearth the building’s story and share it with the public through guided trails. In 2001, the museum re-opened after a major refurbishment. With the opening of the new display ‘The Workhouse Experience’, Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse became the first museum in the country to tell the story of these historic institutions and the people who lived and worked in them.

For a detailed history of the workhouse from its beginnings as a House of Industry to its last years as the Gressenhall Poor Law Institution click here.

The Workhouse Experience
This sequence of rooms is dedicated to the workhouse, its people and their stories. Rare objects from this and other workhouses combine with moving displays and the free audio guide to bring vividly to life this nearly lost world. As you explore the workhouse buildings you will follow the stories of former inmates. Step in their footsteps, find out their daily routines and even spend some time in the punishment cell. Displays also take a different view of the workhouse and look at the people who ran these large institutions. Find out about the workhouse Governors and the Workhouse Master. Learn the systems and structures they used to manage the workhouse from the punishment book to the daily menus.

Workhouse Blue Plaques
As you explore the wider building, there is a blue plaque scheme to tell you how different parts of the building were used in workhouse days.

Workhouse Trails
Guided trails of the workhouse are run most days in the season. These in-depth tours continue to be one of the most effective ways to get under the skin of this atmospheric building and its amazing past.