St Albans Borough Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   unknown

Date closed   [1831]

Location   adjoining town hall (Old Moot Hall), Market Place   St Alban's

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Hertfordshire

Critical Remarks

A Borough Gaol adjoining the town hall in Market Place, and separate from the Liberty Gaol and House of Correction located at Abbey Gateway (IDs 176 & 257), was listed by Neild. Ceased to exist at least by the building of the new town hall in 1831, and probably before then, as borough prisoners were sent to the Liberty Gaol at Abbey Gateway. (Note it is unclear if the borough gaol listed in the 1818 Return was that located at the town hall, or was already part of the prison at Abbey Gateway).

Prison Info

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   unknown

Date closed   [1831]

Location   adjoining town hall (Old Moot Hall), Market Place   St Alban's

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.7519783  Long.   -0.3397533

County   Hertfordshire

Critical Remarks

A Borough Gaol adjoining the town hall in Market Place, and separate from the Liberty Gaol and House of Correction located at Abbey Gateway (IDs 176 & 257), was listed by Neild. Ceased to exist at least by the building of the new town hall in 1831, and probably before then, as borough prisoners were sent to the Liberty Gaol at Abbey Gateway. (Note it is unclear if the borough gaol listed in the 1818 Return was that located at the town hall, or was already part of the prison at Abbey Gateway).

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   12

Daily Greatest number   -   4

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.511
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.22
  • [Second] Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1820), p.22; 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.31

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol2/pp469-477

Prisoners

Archive name: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies

Catalogue ref: LSGB/2-4

Collection: Liberty of St Albans Quarter Sessions

Description: Gaol Books, consisting of Gaol and House of Correction calendars, records of convictions, and recognizances delivered into Court. From 1770 -1814, the record covers both Liberty and Borough of St Albans, and thereafter solely the Liberty.

Dates: 1786-1814, 1819-1828