The daily routine within the workhouse was extremely regimented and its inmates were to adhere to all rules and regulations or be faced with the consequences of being removed and be confronted with certain death. The entry requirement to the workhouse, under the Gregory Clause, was that all inmates must give up any small landholdings and/or any commodities that they may possess. Any person or family that came to the formidable gates of the workhouse must only have the clothes on their back and nothing else. Once a family entered the workhouse, they were to say goodbye to each other, as it was more than likely to be the last time they would see each other. Husbands and wives were separated and their children taken from them as they were marched to their different quarters within the building. Cruelly and with no compassion, the starving families were blocked from seeing each other by high grey walls that divided the already destitute and despaired. To enter a workhouse was the ultimate last resort, it was seen as shameful and degrading.
Life in the workhouse was very regulated and disciplined, it was treated the same as a military barracks. The inmates got up at 6 or7 a.m. to the sound of the morning bell and a roll call was taken. Adults were fed twice a day and children were fed three times a day. Their diet consisted mostly of stir-about which was a porridge-type gruel, milk and potatoes if they were lucky. Not every meal was consistently provided. All meals had to be eaten in silence.
Life in the workhouse was very regulated and disciplined, it was treated the same as a military barracks. The inmates got up at 6 or7 a.m. to the sound of the morning bell and a roll call was taken. Adults were fed twice a day and children were fed three times a day. Their diet consisted mostly of stir-about which was a porridge-type gruel, milk and potatoes if they were lucky. Not every meal was consistently provided. All meals had to be eaten in silence.