Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be poor in Victorian England? Before the welfare system was introduced, those without the means to support themselves would often end up in the workhouse. The Workhouse Museum occupies two buildings in the centre of Ripon. Your visit starts in the original Gatehouse building, where you can follow an inmate’s journey through the workhouse, from admittance in the Guardian’s Room, through the indignity of the baths and fumigation process, to the cells where vagrants slept.
Then take a look around the Main Block where you can see the Master’s study and dining room, the pantry, classroom and inmates’ dining hall. Outside the building, you’ll find the Master and Matron’s front garden, which was restored in 2018 with authentic planting. During your visit save some time to look at the original Workhouse Kitchen Garden, located to the rear of the Workhouse Site, this would have been tended by the inmates and been used to feed them and we use 1860s gardening techniques to cultivate heritage crops. If you’d like to find out more about the history of the workhouse, click the link below. Unfortunately, the Workhouse Museum does not have a café although you are welcome to enjoy a pic nic on one of the benches in our kitchen garden.
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