Making the Rounds: Stories of Workhouse Nurses Told in Textiles 
Saturday 25 January – Monday 09 June 2025
Royal College of Nursing Library and Museum

Between 1777 and 1948, Mitford and Launditch Union Workhouse - now Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse - was home to some of the most vulnerable people in rural Norfolk. Its purpose was to provide accommodation, food and work for 'paupers' who did not have enough money provide for themselves.  The NHS had not yet been created, and many people turned to the workhouse because of illness, old age, disability, mental illness, or as a safe place to give birth. The day-to-day care of the sick and vulnerable inmates fell to just a handful of nurses. They were often overworked, undertrained, and isolated. 

This exhibition is the result of a year-long collaboration between Norfolk-based artist Connie Flynn and volunteer researchers at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. Drawing on over 60 new nurse biographies and 150 years of welfare history, this captivating exhibition interweaves beautiful textile art pieces and the archival sources that inspired them.

Previously displayed at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, the exhibition is now on display in the RCN Library and Museum in London, incorporating new items from the RCN collection alongside the artworks and volunteer research.

Content warning: please be aware that parts of this exhibition mention death in childbirth and suicide.

Visit the exhibition