Rochester City Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Rochester City Gaol and Bridewell

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   c1687 [1809]

Date closed   [1837]

Location   High Street, behind court house   Rochester

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Kent

Critical Remarks

Although the building in which the prison was located was constructed in about 1687, the foundation date for the gaol is unclear. The 1835 Royal Commission suggests it might have been built or more likely rebuilt in 1809. The Gaol also incorporated the City Bridewell (ID 268), even though the Bridewell was listed separately in the 1818 Return. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1836.

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Prison Info

Alternative Names   Rochester City Gaol and Bridewell

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   c1687 [1809]

Date closed   [1837]

Location   High Street, behind court house   Rochester

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.390296  Long.   0.5040306

County   Kent

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Critical Remarks

Although the building in which the prison was located was constructed in about 1687, the foundation date for the gaol is unclear. The 1835 Royal Commission suggests it might have been built or more likely rebuilt in 1809. The Gaol also incorporated the City Bridewell (ID 268), even though the Bridewell was listed separately in the 1818 Return. Last appears in the penal statistics for 1836.

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Prisoner Statistics

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   0

Daily Greatest number   -   0

Year 1828

Annual Committed   -   68

Daily Census   -   13

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   79

Daily Greatest number   -   9

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.505
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.24
  • [Second] Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1820), p.29; 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.35; Fourth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1822), Appendix, p.29; Fifth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1823), Appendix, p.43; Sixth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1824), Appendix, p.55; 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.20
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (1829, XIX.401), p.67
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.85
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 2 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXIII.133), p.860

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Management

Archive name: Medway Archives Centre

Catalogue ref: DRc/Ac 9/33

Collection: Dean and Chapter of Rochester Cathedral

Description: Chapter Minute Book 8, no 33. Resolution to oppose the building of a new Gaol in the city.

Dates: 1800

Finance

Archive name: Medway Archives Centre

Catalogue ref: 1227-1974/RCA N5 03 01 04-05

Collection: Rochester City Council

Description: Current accounts of the Rochester Corporation, including Gaol maintenance (2 volumes)

Dates: 1845-1862

Prisoners

Archive name: Medway Archives Centre

Catalogue ref: 1227_1974/RCA_J1_09_01

Collection: Rochester City Council

Description: Report of the mayor and Justices of the peace respecting the escape of three prisoners from the city gaol and the alterations required to be made in the gaol, with draft

Dates: 1810

Land & Buildings

Archive name: Medway Archives Centre

Catalogue ref: DE0158_Drawings_of_Rochester_Buildings_1824_and_1856/DE158_2

Collection: Drawings of Rochester Buildings

Description: Plan of Rochester Gaol and Gaoler's House, High Street, Rochester

Dates: 1824

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