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Unidentified prison – Can you help?
Can you help us to identify this prison? A correspondent from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, recently got in touch to ask for our help in identifying a prison which appears in a stained glass window in his church, St Peter’s Episcopal. The…
Featured Lock-up: Freshford Lock-up [video]
Situated on Church Hill, the Freshford Lock-up is one of the most unpretentious lock-ups in our database. So much so, that a village resident whom we encountered when filming Freshford Lock-up had no idea about its past use. Venture into…
Featured Lock-up: Monkton Combe Lock-up [video]
Unlike many other lock-ups in our database, Monkton Combe Lock-up is not located in the centre of the village. It can be found on Mill Lane, a narrow road which takes you down the hill towards the Midford Brook. It’s…
Featured Lock-up: Cirencester Lock-up [video]
The Cirencester Lock-up is a building with two distinct stories. Today, it can be found at the back of the Cotswold District Council offices on Trinity Road. But it began life on the other side of town in Gloucester Street, where…
Northleach Old Prison: Bridewell, Police Station, Restaurant [video]
Northleach Old Prison is located right in the heart of the Cotswolds, on the busy A429 between Cirencester and Stow-on-the-Wold. It sits at the head of the River Leach, nestled in a valley, with beautiful hills rising on both sides….
Christmas at Your Local Lock-up
With the festive period upon us, we thought we would explore the the uses of lock-ups in our database at Christmas time. The risks of over-indulgence! Pubs supplied an almost endless stream of men and women who had over-indulged in…
Featured Lock-up: Bradford-on-Avon Lock-up [video]
For this month’s featured lock-up, we’ve chosen one of the more unusual sites in our database: a lock-up located on a bridge, hanging over the water, in a former chapel… But that’s not the only reason why we love Bradford-on-Avon…
Steelhouse Lane Lock-up January 2020 Events
Steelhouse Lane Lock-up is currently home to the West Midlands Police Museum. They’d like to make it their permanent home. To do this they need your help and support. Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, Birmingham is hosting a number of events in…
How to use the Census for Prisons Research
Struggling to find information on staff and prisoners at a particular prison? If there are no registers of prisoners or staff available, then an alternative path could be to use the Census for prisons research. Background The first decennial census…
Historic images of lock-ups: ‘Before and after’ edition
The power of ‘before and after’ shots can show us how our local lock-ups have changed – often over the span of centuries. Over the past few weeks the team at Prison History have been delighted to receive a wealth…
