South Molton Borough Gaol and House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Southmolton Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol, Lock Up

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1828]

Date closed   1866 [1894]

Location   East Street   South Molton

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Devon

Critical Remarks

The date on which the Borough Gaol was first established at the site in East Street is unknown. However, it was rebuilt in 1828. The prison was officially closed by statute in 1866, but it continued to be used as a lock up connected to the police station until 1894.

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Southmolton Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   [1828]

Date closed   1866 [1894]

Location   East Street   South Molton

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.0186181  Long.   -3.8323596

County   Devon

Critical Remarks

The date on which the Borough Gaol was first established at the site in East Street is unknown. However, it was rebuilt in 1828. The prison was officially closed by statute in 1866, but it continued to be used as a lock up connected to the police station until 1894.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   1

Daily Greatest number   -   1

 

Year 1828

Annual Committed   -   26

Daily Census   -   26

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   1

Daily Greatest number   -   4

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -  

Daily Census   -  

 

Year 1858

Annual Committed   -   11

Daily Daily average   -   2

 

Year 1863

Annual Committed   -   14

Daily Greatest number   -   4

Principal Primary Sources

  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.10
  • 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.9
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (1829, XIX.401), p.40
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.104
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 1 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXIII.1), p.614
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Sixteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1851, XXVII.669), p.142; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1857-58, XXIX.69), p.23; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1860, XXXV.153), p.17; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1862, XXV.5), p.30; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1864, XXVI.1), p.27; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirtieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1865, XXIII.1), p.73; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-first Report (Parl. Papers, 1866, XXXVII.1), p.64

Additional Primary Sources

  • William White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devonshire (Sheffield, 1850), p. 613.

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.devon.gov.uk/text/index/councildemocracy/record_office/information_dalss/guide_sources/crime/prisons_in_devon.htm

Land & Buildings

Archive name: North Devon Record Office

Catalogue ref: 3058A/3/Box/2

Collection: South Molton Rural District Council

Description: Includes plan of unidentified building (?Prison) (19th century). Contract for erection of new Prison (1828). 

Dates: 1837-1843