Editing Workhouse (section)

===Religion===
{{Quote box |width=25em|quoted=true |salign=center |quote=From the Jewish point of view&nbsp;... was the virtual impossibility of complying with the Jewish ritual requirements; the dietary laws could have been followed, if at all, only by virtual restriction to bread and water, and the observance of the Sabbath and Festivities was impossible.{{sfnp|Jones|1980|p=90|ps=none}}}}
Religion played an important part in workhouse life: prayers were read to the paupers before breakfast and after supper each day.{{sfnp|Fowler|2007|p=66|ps=none}} Each Poor Law Union was required to appoint a chaplain to look after the spiritual needs of the workhouse inmates, and he was invariably expected to be from the established [[Church of England]]. Religious services were generally held in the dining hall, as few early workhouses had a separate chapel but in some parts of the country, notably [[Cornwall]] and [[northern England]],<ref name=HigginbothamReligion>{{cite web |last=Higginbotham |first=Peter |title=Religion in Workhouses |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/religion/ |publisher=workhouses.org.uk |access-date=21 October 2011}}</ref> there were more [[dissenter]]s than members of the established church. As section 19 of the 1834 Poor Law specifically forbade any regulation forcing an inmate to attend church services "in a Mode contrary to [their] Religious Principles",{{sfnp|Levinson|2004|p=666|ps=none}} the commissioners were reluctantly forced to allow non-Anglicans to leave the workhouse on Sundays to attend services elsewhere, so long as they were able to provide a certificate of attendance signed by the officiating minister on their return.<ref name=HigginbothamReligion/>

As the 19th century wore on [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] ministers increasingly began to conduct services within the workhouse, but [[Catholic]] priests were rarely welcomed.<ref name=HigginbothamReligion/> A variety of legislation had been introduced during the 17th century to limit the civil rights of Catholics, beginning with the [[Popish Recusants Act 1605]] in the wake of the failed [[Gunpowder Plot]] that year. Though almost all restrictions on Catholics in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were removed by the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], a great deal of anti-Catholic feeling remained.{{sfnp|Crowther|1981|p=130|ps=none}} Even in areas with large Catholic populations, such as [[Liverpool]], the appointment of a Catholic chaplain was unthinkable.<ref name=HigginbothamReligion/> Some guardians went so far as to refuse Catholic priests entry to the workhouse.{{sfnp|Crowther|1981|p=130|ps=none}}