A Visit to Newgate Prison

By Kelly Wedlake

            I was recently afforded the opportunity to visit the infamous Newgate Prison, to experience the jail as the inmates do, and observe the daily going’s on.  Upon arrival, I had to enter through three different gates and meet my conductor, the man in charge of giving me the tour of the prison for the day.  I was given a distinct jacket to wear, bright, so that I would stand out from the prisoners.  I was then taken through the next set of gates, and to the courtyard.  As shown in last week’s Journal, there are three distinct parts of Newgate Prison, one for debtors, one for female prisoners, and one for male prisoners.  The first part of my tour found me in the debtors portion of the prison. 

Newgate Prison

            Here, men and women alike were kept (in separate cells still) until they had worked off or paid off their debts.  Each prisoner, regardless of which portion of the prison they were assigned to, received a mat/rug to sleep on within their cell each night.  In the mornings, they were to return the mat to their wardsman or wardswoman until the evening.  The wardsmen and wardswomen were allowed to sleep in bunked beds, more so cots than beds, and were selected for good behavior.  It was an honor to be selected to this privilege, and typically means that one is reaching the end of their sentence.

            The other interesting aspect of my tour was the sight of the little school for boys within the prison’s walls under age 14.  These little creatures were still offered an education, despite their poor decisions thus far in life, and I found this act of charity to be an inspiration in human nature.  Overall, I found the horrors of Newgate Prison were mainly hidden from my view—though I am sure they exist.  My visit was as cheery as one could be to the capital’s largest prison; upon my next visit I hope to get more into the depths of despair we so often hear about there.  

http://www.victorianlondon.org/prisons/newgate.htm “Victorian London-- Prisons and Penal Systems—Prisons—Newgate” by Charles Dickens, originally in “Sketches by Boz, 1836”

Picture from : http://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/2012/05/inside-newgate-prison/