In November the gardening group had another talk at Stainton Village Hall.
Our speaker was Sue Wood with a talk about Ripon Workhouse Gardens. Sue is about to retire from her role at the workhouse museum and has worked there for 40 years.
In 1852 the Mayor Henry Morton confirmed the workhouse should be built to house 120 people, the whole project was funded and initiated by William and Elisha Backhouse, a family with horticultural connections to this day.
The workhouse was a 2-storey building with separate spaces for male and female who were separated on entry. It was built to be self-contained with its own Chaplain and Doctor. The Master looked after the whole house and had his own family house at the entrance to the estate.
The Guardians approved whether individuals or families could have “outdoor relief” which enabled them to remain in their own homes or whether they should be admitted to the workhouse. In 1844 around 2000 people were given temporary shelter in the workhouse and 13000 were given outdoor relief. There were casual wards which gave vagrants one night’s accommodation with a bath, a meal and a bed for the night with a task to be completed the next morning, they could not then return for another 30 days.
For those inmates on a longer term the Master decided their roles which could be in the garden, cooking, laundry, housework etc. There was also a schoolroom, and the Master would try to ensure that the children would be educated enough to be able to find work.
The workhouse is now a museum and is one of the most complete in England with most of the buildings still standing. Over the years the museum has had grants from the lottery and others to repair the buildings and garden.
The garden now is run as far as possible on the methods used in the 1800s. Heritage varieties are grown including potatoes, cabbage, turnips, swede, parsnip and peas. There is a small orchard with heritage apples including the Dog’s Snout variety.
As well as the vegetable garden, the Master’s House had its own garden, and this has been restored to include foxgloves, dianthus, sweet William, hollyhocks, lupins and delphiniums. The restoration of the flower garden was assisted by Newby Hall who we heard about last month in the talk about the Harrogate Show.
This was another interesting talk which was enjoyed by the group.
In December we will be taking a trip to Ormesby Hall to see how this National Trust property has been decorated for Christmas.
In January the group will take a break reconvening in February for a talk about the Plant Heritage scheme.
Report by Julie and Kate