My 13th NT property was this Workhouse and Infirmary.
A sobering place built in 1824 and designed as a last resort for the poor and destitute, its bright and symmetrical exterior belying the harshness of life within. It was not a prison, inmates could leave anytime to seek work and return. The work was physically hard, tedious and there were strict rules for both daytime and night time.
The Infirmary in Firbeck House was created for those too old or sick to work to keep them separate from the others. It was segregated into men, women and children all accommodated separately in dormitories, though the mothers got to see their children at times.
Grim place but one could argue for some at least it put a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, meagre though it was.
When it ceased to be a workhouse, it became an old people's home as we called it then, now you would say care home. It was still operational until the mid 1980s before finally closing and now being operated for education and history by the National Trust.
I suspect the inside doesn't look nearly as grim as the reality of the time. There used to be a "poor house" close to where I lived a few years after I first moved to town.
