HE LLANFYLLIN UNION WORKHOUSE Short History John Hainsworth The Union Workhouse at Llanfyllin is one of the very few to have survived rela- tively intact. It bears witness to a system which many people found cruel, but others saw as a model of enlightened administration. It served a large area of Montgomeryshire, from the Tanat to the Banwy, for a century or more and af- fected, for good or ill, the lives of thousands of people: the poor, the infirm or the unlucky who lived within its walls, or in their shadow. Research into the history of the Llanfyllin Workhouse has only recently begun and this short account, based on an exhibition mounted in 2004, is intended as an introduction. The Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust has estab- lished a History Group to examine the surviving records, to preserve the recollections of those who remember the building in its various roles and ultimately, when the Trust’s plans are realised, to set up a permanent exhibition and archive in the Workhouse where the full story can be told. The Trust would be glad to hear from anyone who would like to help with the task, or with other aspects of its work. The Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust 2004 ! times they were sent to live in a poorhouse, or workhouse, so-called because their occu- pants were supposed to be made to work. This system operated for over 200 years. he New Poor Law By the early 9th Cen- tury pauperism seemed to be on the increase. With the industrial revo- lution traditional trades declined, while employ- ment in the new indus- tries was subject to lanfyllin, with the former parish workhouse in the fore- sudden fluctuations. ground. A simple cottage, it is typical of such buildings New agricultural ma- under the old system. It became redundant when the new chinery was making Workhouse was built. men redundant. Enclo- sures had robbed coun- he Old Poor Law try people of the common land where they could collect fuel or graze a pig Ever since Tudor times the state has – the Llanfyllin town commons had recognised, however reluctantly, an been enclosed under an act of 789. obligation to look after people unable Soldiers returned from the Napo- to look after themselves. The old or leonic Wars looking for work. In infirm with no resources and no fam- many areas a farm worker’s wages ily to support them; orphans; even had become too low to support a the able-bodied and their families family, and had to be supplemented when no work was to be had, were from the rates. All this meant that not to be left to starve. Under a law more and more people were applying of 60 these paupers became the for poor relief, and between !803 responsibility of their own parish. and 88 the cost of maintaining The cost of maintaining them fell paupers almost doubled. Many par- upon the rate-payers – local proper- ishes were too small to cope with the ty-owners – who elected overseers to expense involved, and in some dis- collect the money and administer it. tricts bigger workhouses, covering a Usually paupers were given ‘out-re- wider area, were already seen as a lief’ – an allowance of money or food solution: one was built at Forden, to live in their own homes: some- near Welshpool, in !794. 2 he Act of 1834 look elsewhere and seek work, and in this it was quite effective: in Llan- The Annual Re- fyllin as in other places most work- ports of the house inmates turned out to be the Poor !aw Com- old, the infirm or handicapped, and missioners, is- children. In practice some out-relief sued from 1835, laid down in continued to be given, especially great detail the where the bread-winner of a family rules governing had fallen ill, but for many the Work- the new system. house was a constant threat. Such bureauc- racy was a new The Act was passed by an over- feature of Brit- whelming majority, and despite op- ish life. position the new system was rapidly By the 830s the growth of poor re- established in most parts of England lief was seen, not just as a financial and Wales. In the first five years burden, but as a social evil: a disin- around 350 new workhouses were centive to saving, an inducement to built in England and Wales, and by idleness and a threat to the moral 883 the number had grown to 554. welfare of the nation. Pressure grew for reform. In 832 Parliament set !he New Workhouse up a Commission of Inquiry, and its Report led to the Poor Law Amend- ment Act of 834. The Act created Unions of parishes, big enough to be viable. Each Union was governed by a Board of Guardians, elected by the rate-payers, who organised re- lief for all paupers in the district and billed their parish for the cost. At a national level the Unions were to be overseen by the Poor Law Commis- sioners, who laid down strict guide- lines to be followed. At the heart of the system was the Union Work- house. Specimen forms for the admission and dis- charge of workhouse inmates, published by the Poor !aw Commissioners. Paupers were no longer to be re- lieved at home: if they did not want In 822 Captain George Nicholls, to starve they had to enter the Work- who was associated with the pio- house. Conditions there would be neering new Workhouse at South- grim enough to deter all but the des- well in Nottinghamshire, had written: perate, and thus large savings could be made. The object of the system I wish to see the poorhouse looked was to make able-bodied paupers to with dread by our labouring class- 3 es, and the reproach for being an inmate of it extend downwards from father to son. Let the poor see and feel that their parish, though it will not al- low them to perish from absolute want, is yet the hardest taskmaster, the clos- est paymaster and the most harsh and unkind friend they can apply to.’ Rules for segregation laid down by the Poor The new workhouses were designed aw Commissioners in their first Report. to deter. The buildings were often bleak and forbidding, cheaply built Essential both to the control exer- and prominently situated outside the cised in the workhouse and to its town. The Poor Law Commissioners deterrent effect was the segregation published specimen designs by the of the inmates. The guidelines laid architect Sampson Kempthorne. down by the Poor Law Commission- They were influenced by Jeremy ers divided paupers by age, gender Bentham’s ‘Panopticon’, a prison or and physical condition into 7 classes, ‘House of Industry’ with blocks radi- who were not to be allowed to mix. ating from a central point from which Ideally they should be in separate the inmates could be supervised. institutions: in practice they were normally in one building which was designed with separate wings and exer- cise yards which made it impossible for them to meet. In answer to pro- tests that it was inhuman to split up families the Commissioners pointed out that the arrangement Sampson Kempthorne’s design for a workhouse on a radial plan, which facilitated the divi- sion of the inmates into classes. The yards could be supervised from the ‘Master’s Parlor’ in the centre. 4 Design by Sampson Kempthorne for a Work- house to accommodate 200 paupers, published in the Report of the Poor !aw Commission- ers for 1836. It was in- tended as a model for Boards of Guardians to follow. The plan of the lanfyllin Union Work- house is similarly shaped like a cross, with four courtyards. was supposed to be temporary, that he Llanfyllin Poor Law Union soldiers and sailors were separated from their loved ones, and that hus- The Poor Law Commissioners ap- bands and wives were sometimes pointed 7 Assistant Commissioners grateful to be kept apart! Whilst reg- whose job it was to ensure that Poor ulations did permit rooms to be pro- Law Unions were formed and work- vided for aged couples, this rarely if houses built without delay. The As- ever occurred in practice. sistant Commissioner responsible for Shropshire and much of North Wales was William Day. We know much about his activities as his letter books, nine large volumes, are preserved in the National Library of Wales. Day set about his task with great energy, and in August 836 he told his superiors in Lon- don he was inclined to think ‘an important and effective Union may be made at Llanfyllin.’ The Llanfyllin Union was originally made up of 23 parishes: Llanfyllin, Mei- fod, Llanfihangel, Llanwd- The ground floor plan of Sampson Kemp- dyn, Llanfair Caereinion, thorne’s Workhouse for 200 paupers, with Garthbeibio, Llanerfyl, Llangadfan, the Master’s accommodation at the centre. Llangyniew, Llandisilio, Llansantf- 5 *Pennant Llansantffraid *Llanwddyn * lanfyllin* Llanrhaeadr * *Llandrinio *Llanfihangel *Meifod *Garthbeibio *Guilsfield *Llanerfyl *Llanfair Caereinion The County of Montgomeryshire, showing the 23 parishes (not all named on the map) which constituted the !lanfyllin Poor !aw Union. Guilsfield joined the Union in 1856. fraid (Pool and Deythur), Llanfechain, The Board of Guardians consisted of Llandrinio, Carreghofa, Hirnant, Pen- elected members from each parish - nant, Llangynog, Llanrhaeadr ym two from the largest parishes - along Mochnant (Montgomeryshire and with local magistrates who were ex- Denbighshire), Llanarmon Mynydd officio members. These, mostly land- Mawr and Llancawaladr. The com- owners or clergymen, played a lead- bined population was nearly 20,000.