Llanfyllin and district
The Union Workhouse
  Christmas Day in the workhouse  
 

One of the very few times that the unlucky people who were forced to live in Llanfyllin workhouse ever received a decent meal was on Christmas Day.
Food in the Victorian workhouse was very normally very poor and tasteless because very little money was spent on it, and because the idea was to make the place as unpleasant as possible. Not only was the food horrible, but it was also strictly rationed, so that people were kept hungry. This entry from the Llanfyllin Union records is from Christmas 1874...

 
17th December
1874
 Minute book entry
  17th December - "Resolved that the Inmates of the Workhouse be allowed the usual treat of Roast Beef and Plum pudding on Christmas Day".
The photograph below is from a much later date, probably around 1904 or just after the end of the Victorian years. It shows a tea party held in the courtyard at Llanfyllin workhouse.		 Detail of large photo
Llanfyllin
Workhouse
around 1904
 Tea party at Llanfyllin workhouse
 

By this date workhouse conditions were much better than at the start of Queen Victoria's reign, though they were still not places that anyone would choose to live in !

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