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French Prison History in unexpected places
At these three popular tourist sites in France, you might be surprised to stumble across some fascinating prison history. Château d’Ussé, Rigny-Ussé, Indre-et-Loire Nestled on a hill, overlooking the Indre River, is the splendid Château d’Ussé. Built in phases from…
Elizabeth Fry Refuge
In May 2022, Prison History project lead Rosalind Crone appeared in episode 3 of Jay Blades’s series, No Place Like Home, to discuss an important historical site: the Elizabeth Fry Refuge at 195 Mare Street, Hackney, London. Jay had no…
Origins and legacy of the penal treadmill
In April 2022, Prison History project lead Rosalind Crone was interviewed by Dallas Campbell for his History Hit series Patented: History of Inventions on the origins and legacy of the penal treadmill. Dallas thought he’d be finding out about the…
Why are there so many bridewells?
In July 2021, Prison History project lead Rosalind Crone was interviewed by John Darvall from BBC Radio Bristol on the history and use of the term ‘bridewell’ after a listener sent in a question. It was such a great question…
British prisons: everything you wanted to know
In June 2021, Prison History project lead Rosalind Crone was interviewed by David Musgrove for the History Extra podcast, Everything you wanted to know … on British prisons. For almost 90 minutes, Rosalind responded to questions on the history of…
Taunton County Gaol: Past Present and Future
On 11 September 2020, project lead Rosalind Crone was interviewed by Claire Carter for the BBC Radio Somerset on the history of Taunton County Gaol in Somerset. A planning application had been submitted to Somerset West and Taunton Council to…
Help us identify this prison – Updated
We have a photograph taken outside a prison in the early to mid-20th century. Can you help us identify it? One of our Prison History subscribers got in touch with a photograph she found in her family’s archive. It is…
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…
