One of the best preserved examples of a workhouse anywhere in Britain is the Llanfyllin Union in Montgomeryshire www.lanfyllinworkhouse.org.uk.

This impressive building follows a typical plan, dividing the accommodation into four main wings, with a recreation courtyard each for men, women, boys and girls. This meant that families entering the workhouse were split up, and mothers forcibly separated from their young children.

The warden of the so-called 'inmates' lived in the central tower designed according to the 'panopticon' principle, so that he could survey all the activity from his office.