Bishop’s Castle Prison

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol, Lock Up

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1765]

Date closed   [1837]

Location   town hall   Bishop's Castle

Map location   in the vicinity

County   Shropshire

Critical Remarks

Town Hall built 1765. Most likely the gaol underneath it dates from this time. By the 1830s at least, used primarily (if not only) as a lock up. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1836.

Prison Info

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1765]

Date closed   [1837]

Location   town hall   Bishop's Castle

Map location   in the vicinity
Lat.   52.485662  Long.   -3.0028093

County   Shropshire

Critical Remarks

Town Hall built 1765. Most likely the gaol underneath it dates from this time. By the 1830s at least, used primarily (if not only) as a lock up. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1836.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   0

Daily Greatest number   -   0

 

Year 1828

Annual Committed   -   0

Daily Census   -   0

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   0

Daily Greatest number   -   0

Principal Primary Sources

  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.40
  • Eighth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1832), Appendix, p.38
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (1829, XIX.401), p.93
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.14
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 4 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXV.1), p.2599

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.bishopscastle.co.uk/tourism/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/A-Brief-History-of-Bishops-Castle2.pdf; http://bishopscastletownhall.co.uk/history-of-the-town-hall/