From ' Inquiry into Welsh prisons
1778 ' by James Nield:
' This gaol ,
lately built, is also a county bridewell ...on the ground floor a day room
or kitchen for debtors, 27 feet by 15, and another as large for criminals,
and for the latter only four cells seven- and- a- half feet by six-and-a-half
feet, two on each side of a passage but three feet wide. The cells are arched
with brick and lined with oak planks. In each there is a bedstead with two
blankets and a coverlet. In both the debtors and the felons day rooms are eight
cupboards with separate locks and keys, that each may secure his provision.
Separate courts for debtors and criminals; in each a pump with excellent water
and bathing room, with a copper etc. Made so convenient that they are in
constant use.'
Leg Irons
Extracts from 1785 rules:
' All prisoners committed for
felony shall have irons put on their legs at the discretion of the keeper and
the same not to be altered without
an order of a justice of the peace' . (This included women prisoners)
By 1802
there were only four cells for felons each 7 ½ feet by 6 feet, and nine rooms
for debtors, 13½ feet by 11½ feet. Debt was punished by imprisonment until
1869, but had more lenient treatment than criminals. In 1812 there were further
extensions to include separate cells, day rooms, and exercise yards for females
also, and three penitentiary cells, each 10 feet by 6 feet. In 1824-5 the female
accommodation was increased also and six solitary cells built. Extension
continued until by 1837 the prison could hold up to 58 inmates.
From: Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833 by
Samuel Lewis - a description of prison life:
‘The
males are employed on the tread- wheel, or in knitting worsted gloves, and the
females in washing for themselves and other prisoners; the former are allowed
the whole of their earnings in knitting, and the females receive one shilling
per week for washing, and four pence in every shilling which they earn by
sewing.
There are
two infirmaries in the prison; divine service is performed twice, and a sermon
delivered once, on every Sunday by the Chaplain; and prayers are read daily by
the gaoler to the prisoners, who are supplied gratuitously with bibles and
religious tracts.'
Oakum- picking - the unravelling of tarred ropes, was introduced as a punishment for men in 1840, and from an early date the male prisoners were also employed in breaking stones for use on the county roads. The tread- wheel, cheap and simple and demanding hard labour was installed in 1823. The Gaol Chaplin explained in 1833, ‘the prisoners are subject and accustomed to a fixed and certain degree of labour and restraint, by which they become more subdued and tractabl’. Ruthin permitted a maximum use of 12,000 feet of climbing by a prisoner to be achieved and the only concession to prisoners on the wheel was an extra quarter pound of bread per day.
The gaol rules, regularly revised
by Parliament, were not always implemented completely. The Inspector of Prisons
discovered in 1848 that no attempt was made to enforce the silence rule; or the
rising at six rule ( some were still in bed at 7-30); or the no smoking rule;
daily prayers were not read and the governor had failed to report a case of a
drunken prisoner assaulting a warder. The inspector was so dissatisfied that
the governor was advised to resign.
H.M.
PRISON (from Ruthin and Vicinity 1884)
Until 1878 this was the County Prison, but the Prison Act 1877 made it ‘Her Majesty’s Prison’, like the rest of the local prisons in England and Wales: and whereas it formerly served for the County of Denbigh only, it now receives prisoners from the Counties of Merioneth and Flint also, the prisons in those counties having been abolished. About 16 years ago the prison was rebuilt on the general model plan, the Prison Act 1865 having rendered such rebuilding imperatively necessary. The cost was about £12,000; and since it came directly under the control of the Home Office considerable alterations have been made in the buildings, which are even now progressing in the wards for females. There is accommodation for about 100 prisoners. The most scientific sanitary means are adopted in the prison. The water supply is excellent. Ventilation is perfect, and the prison ranks as one of the most healthy in the kingdom. Over the front doorway there is the following inscription:-
The Magistrates, sensible of the miserable state of the ancient prison in compassion to the unfortunate caused this building to be erected in the year mdcclxxv.
But a certain wag after reading
it once said it ought to be thus: ‘ With Magistrates’ grace, and
compassionate bounty, We erected this place at the cost of the County’.
Cell Blocks
The new wing was for the
exclusive use of male prisoners. The women were transferred to the old men's
prison which was remodelled inside but had smaller cells as they spent less
time in them, ' in as much as the women's hard labour is at the wash tub and
ironing table'. The only time when men and women occupied the same room was in
the prison chapel which they approached from separate entrances.
New rules were published to
coincide with the new accommodation and the regime known as the 'silent system'
was enforced with a vengeance. Generally, the male prisoners spent all but one
hour of every day in their cells. When they were out in the exercise yard they
wore 'scotch caps' obscuring their faces so that they could not recognise or
communicate with their fellow inmates. Whist in their cells, communication
between them was made nearly impossible as all heating and ventilation was
carried out by means of ducting within the cavities of the walls, each cell
having its own set of such channels.
Scotch Cap
The gaol was lit by gas from
Ruthin gasworks, each cell having its own gaslight but controlled centrally on
each floor by a warder. A niche for a portable oil lamp next to every cell door
served to light up inside after lights-out. Warders could be summoned by a
prisoner by an indicator and bell system operated from inside the cell by means
of a cable system. There was a water supply in every cell. Water was fed from
cisterns at the top of the building filled by the action of the men on the
treadmill pumping water from the prison well.
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