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The Bath Union Workhouse opened in 1838, amalgamating a series of parish-based poorhouses. 

The Work house Bell
Workhouse Bell

The most obvious discipline of the workhouse was time. The notion of getting up, eating and working at the summons of the Workhouse bell (image to left) must have seemed a very strange one in 1838. The bell can be seen in the main entrance to St Martin’s Hospital. Pictured above.