Once called Thurgarton Hundred Incorporated Workhouse, this National Trust property is not about grand architecture, aristocratic lineage, or magnificent art collections. Built in 1824 by the architect William Nicholson, it is one of the most important poor-law buildings to have survived in England. The Trust acquired The Workhouse in 1997, with the aid of a £2.25 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The sole picture, on loan from nearby Southwell Minster, is a portrait by Thomas Barber of 'The Reverend John Thomas Becher (1770–1848)', who was interested in an austere system imposed on the poor for their moral good, which this building incorporates, and inspired those who drafted the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.