Berkhampstead County Bridewell

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Berkhamstead Bridewell

Prison Type   Local Prison -  House of Correction/Bridewell, Lock Up

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1764

Date closed   c1840 [1894]

Location   Bridewell Lane at junction with High Street   Berkhamsted

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Hertfordshire

Critical Remarks

Demolished in 1894, but it is likely that the essential function of this prison changed long before that. When the prison inspectors visited in 1839-40, they found it was mostly used as a lock up, but also for prisoners summarily convicted and sentenced to periods of imprisonment not exceeding one month.

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Berkhamstead Bridewell

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1764

Date closed   c1840 [1894]

Location   Bridewell Lane at junction with High Street   Berkhamsted

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.7740123  Long.   -0.5965342

County   Hertfordshire

Critical Remarks

Demolished in 1894, but it is likely that the essential function of this prison changed long before that. When the prison inspectors visited in 1839-40, they found it was mostly used as a lock up, but also for prisoners summarily convicted and sentenced to periods of imprisonment not exceeding one month.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   56

Daily Greatest number   -   13

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.41
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.20
  • The Third Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1821), Appendix, p.30
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXV.1), p.114; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1841 Session 2, IV.1), p.175

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.berkhamstedtowncouncil.gov.uk/uploads/e-history-etc-040204.pdf; Berkhamsted Through Time (Amberley Publishing, 2013)

Finance

Archive name: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies

Catalogue ref: QS/GP/23

Collection: Hertfordshire Quarter Sessions

Description: Receipted Accounts

Dates: 1778-1839