19th Century Prison History : 19th Century Prison Search

Bolton Dungeon

Overview

Location   Windy Bank (now Bank Street)  Bolton

County   Lancashire

Year Opened   unknown

Year Closed   unknown

Century of Operation   1600-1699, 1700-1799

Remarks   Potentially held prisoners taken after the 1644 Bolton Massacre in the first Civil War. Visible on a map of Windy Bank from 1797. In 'The History of Great and Little Bolton' (1823), John Brown mentions an 'Old Dungeon' contiguous to the shop of Israel Pemberton, a Primitive Quaker.

Section of a map of Windy Bank dating from 1797, showing the position of the dungeon (shaded yellow), next to the Bird in Hand stable.© Bolton Archives and Local Studies, Albinson Collection, ZAL855

Further information can be found at
https://www.prisonhistory.org/lockup/bolton-dungeon/

Sources

  • John Brown, The History of Great and Little Bolton (Manchester, 1823) pp. 357-358
  • Map of Windy Bank from 1797, from the Albinson Collection (ZAL855), Bolton Archives, posted by Andrew Hodson in the Discussion Board for the Ancient Bolton-Pre 1800s Bolton Facebook Group (21 August 2018)
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/502317166638370/