Buckingham Town Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Buckingham Castle Gaol, Buckingham Borough Gaol

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

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1748

Date closed   1878 [1890]

Location   Market Hill   Buckingham

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Buckinghamshire

Critical Remarks

Entirely rebuilt in 1838. Served as a local prison, at least nominally, until 1868. By the 1850s also began to serve as a county lock up house, and continued to appear in the Judicial Statistics until at least 1878. The gaol was officially closed in 1890 when a new police station was built on Moreton Road.

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Buckingham Castle Gaol, Buckingham Borough Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1748

Date closed   1878 [1890]

Location   Market Hill   Buckingham

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.0008989  Long.   -0.9864688

County   Buckinghamshire

Critical Remarks

Entirely rebuilt in 1838. Served as a local prison, at least nominally, until 1868. By the 1850s also began to serve as a county lock up house, and continued to appear in the Judicial Statistics until at least 1878. The gaol was officially closed in 1890 when a new police station was built on Moreton Road.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   13

Daily Greatest number   -   7

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   9

Daily Greatest number   -   6

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   12

Daily Census   -   0

 

Year 1843

Annual Confined   -   29

Daily Census   -   5

 

Year 1848

Annual Confined   -   16

Daily Daily average   -   0

 

Year 1853

Annual Confined   -   11

Daily Daily average   -   0

 

Year 1858

Annual Committed   -   12

Daily Daily average   -   0

 

Year 1863

Annual Committed   -   9

Daily Greatest number   -   39

 

Year 1868

Annual Committed   -   22

Daily Daily average   -   2

 

Year 1873

Annual Committed   -   22

Daily Daily average   -   3

 

Year 1878

Annual Committed   -   5

Daily Daily average   -   0

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.72
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.4
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.26
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 1 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXIII.1), p.29
  • Abstract Return of Establishment and Expenditure of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.241), p.4
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Second Report (Parl. Papers, 1837, XXXII.1), p.52; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Third Report (Parl. Papers, 1837-38, XXX.1), p.197; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXI.1), p.108; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXV.1), p.81; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1841 Session 2, IV.1), p.80; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1842, XX.1), p.63; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Tenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1845, XXIII.1), p.124; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1857-58, XXIX.69), p.18; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1860, XXXV.153), p.13; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1862, XXV.5), p.17; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1864, XXVI.1), p.15; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirtieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1865, XXIII.1), p.29; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-first Report (Parl. Papers, 1866, XXXVII.1), p.25; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-second Report (Parl. Papers, 1867-68, XXXIV.203), p.30

Management

Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: Q/AP/20/5b

Collection: Buckinghamshire Quarter Sessions

Description: Use by the county of the magistrates' chamber and part of the Town Gaol

Dates: 1873


Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: Q/AP/3/7a-c

Collection: Buckinghamshire Quarter Sessions

Description: Letter from Town Clerk concerning the renting of cells in Buckingham Borough Gaol

Dates: 1866-1867


Finance

Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: Q/AP/20/5a

Collection: Buckinghamshire Quarter Sessions

Description: Clerk, Buckingham, about rent owed by the county for the use of cells in the Town Gaol

Dates: 1870


Staff

Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: B/Buc/4/15/1

Collection: Buckingham Borough

Description: Declarations on acceptance of office, with entries for offices of Gaoler and Gaol Chaplain

Dates: 1835-1856


Prisoners

Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: B/Buc/5/3

Collection: Buckingham Borough

Description: Register of committals to the Gaol and House of Correction

Dates: 1827-1837


Land & Buildings

Archive name: Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

Catalogue ref: B/Buc/4/42/1-5

Collection: Buckingham Borough

Description: Plans and specifications for alterations to the Gaol by George Gilbert Scott (1839), and papers relating to its use after decommissioning (1878 and 1889)

Dates: 1839, 1878, 1889