Aldeburgh Borough Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Aldborough Town Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1550]

Date closed   [c1850]

Location   town hall (or Moot Hall), Market Cross Place   Aldeburgh

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Suffolk

Critical Remarks

The Town Hall (or Moot Hall as it is popularly known) dates from about 1550, but the foundation date for the town gaol is not known. Most likely no longer used by the mid-nineteenth century. Its condition in the early nineteenth century suggests that it was rarely used as anything more than a lock up.

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Aldborough Town Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1550]

Date closed   [c1850]

Location   town hall (or Moot Hall), Market Cross Place   Aldeburgh

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.154942  Long.   1.6029252

County   Suffolk

Critical Remarks

The Town Hall (or Moot Hall as it is popularly known) dates from about 1550, but the foundation date for the town gaol is not known. Most likely no longer used by the mid-nineteenth century. Its condition in the early nineteenth century suggests that it was rarely used as anything more than a lock up.

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.8
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 4 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXV.1), p.2095
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District. First Report (Parl. Papers, 1836, XXXV.161), p.99

Additional Primary Sources

  • The Penny Cyclopedia, by G. Long, SDUK, 1842, p. 220

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.visit-aldeburgh.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-aldeburghs-moot-hall; http://www.aldeburghmuseumonline.co.uk/