Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse
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The Mitford and Launditch Hundreds Incorporation was established in 1775, with the land on which a "house of industry" would be built being purchased the following year.[5] The Mitford and Launditch Corporation House of Industry was opened on 7 July 1777.[6] The building accommodated an average of 450 "inmates", but at its peak in 1801 housed 670.[5]
In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act led to the creation of the Mitford and Launditch Poor Law Union.[5] The conversion of the House of Industry to Union Workhouse began in 1836.[6]
Inhabitants of the workhouse who have been remembered include Harriet Kettle, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison with hard labour for setting a fire in the building,[7] and Elizabeth Rudd, "a pauper inmate of the workhouse", who became pregnant while there.[8]
The chapel was, designed by R. M. Pinson and opened by the Bishop of Norwich, was built in 1868.[6]
In 1930, the workhouse became Gressenhall Institution, and after World War II provided accommodation for elderly people, and occasionally as emergency housing for homeless families.[5] In 1976, it became a rural life museum.[5]