Swaffham Gaol and House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Swaffham Bridewell, Swaffham Gaol, Swaffham House of Correction

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

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1599 [1787]

Date closed   1878

Location   London Street   Swaffham

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Norfolk

Critical Remarks

Built in 1787 on the site of the old Swaffham Bridewell (constructed in 1599).

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Swaffham Bridewell, Swaffham Gaol, Swaffham House of Correction

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1599 [1787]

Date closed   1878

Location   London Street   Swaffham

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.6451396  Long.   0.6899787

County   Norfolk

Critical Remarks

Built in 1787 on the site of the old Swaffham Bridewell (constructed in 1599).

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   312

Daily Greatest number   -   52

 

Year 1823

Annual Committed   -   395

Daily Census   -   59

 

Year 1828

Annual Committed   -   283

Daily Census   -   45

 

Year 1833

Annual Committed   -   341

Daily Census   -   47

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   327

Daily Census   -   30

 

Year 1843

Annual Confined   -   434

Daily Census   -   37

 

Year 1848

Annual Confined   -   593

Daily Daily average   -   76

 

Year 1853

Annual Confined   -   456

Daily Daily average   -   66

 

Year 1858

Annual Committed   -   298

Daily Daily average   -   44

 

Year 1863

Annual Committed   -   383

Daily Greatest number   -   83

 

Year 1868

Annual Committed   -   409

Daily Daily average   -   51

 

Year 1873

Annual Committed   -   229

Daily Daily average   -   28

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.554
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.34
  • 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.57; 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.102; Seventh Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1827), Appendix, p.111; 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.32
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1824, XIX.359), p.166; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1825, XXIII.1), p.190; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1826, XXIV.1), p.184; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1826-27, XIX.365), p.164; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1828, XX.327), p.197; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1829, XIX.1), p.175; Reports and Schedules Pursuant To Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1830, XXIV.1), p.176; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1830-31, XII.1), p.168; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1831-32. XXXIII.197), p.168; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.1), p.180; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1834, XLVI.1), p.167; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1835, XLIV.225), p.167; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1836, XLII.1), p.110; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1837, XLV.1), p.111; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1837-8, XLIII.227), p.113; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXXVIII.17), p.109; Reports Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.1), p.117; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1841, XVIII.1), p.122; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXXII.1), p.126; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1843, XLIII.1), p.126; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXXIX.403), p.127; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1845, XXXVII.417), p.153; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1846, XXXIV.187), p.149; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847, XLVII.297), p.161; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847-48, LII.465), p.160
  • Abstract Return of Establishment and Expenditure of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.241), p.42
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District. First Report (Parl. Papers, 1836, XXXV.161), p.48; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern, Third Report (Parl. Papers, 1837-38, XXXI.1), p.148; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXV.565), p.101; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXI.1), p.141; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXIX.227), p.37; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland and Eastern District, Fourteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1849, XXVI.1), p.32; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1850, XXVIII.291), p.26; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Sixteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1851, XXVII.461), p.146; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventeenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1852-53, LII.1), p.70; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Eighteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1856, XXXIII.1), p.43; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Nineteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1856, XXXIII.385), p.50; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1859, Session 1, XI.1), p.82; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1860, XXXV.1), p.77; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1860, XXXV.229), p.73; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1861, XXIX.45), p.77; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1862, XXV.93), p.78; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-eighth Report (Parl. Papers, 1863, XXIII.1), p.61; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirtieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1865, XXIII.1), p.171; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-first Report (Parl. Papers, 1866, XXXVII.1), p.132; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-second Report (Parl. Papers, 1867-68, XXXIV.203), p.204; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1868-69, XXIX.1), p.143; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1870, XXXVII.1), p.155; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1871, XXIX.241), p.193; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1872, XXXI.1), p.112; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1873, XXXII.1), p.226; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-eighth Report (Parl. Papers, 1874, XXIX.1), p.259; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1875, XXXVII.1), p.279; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Fortieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1876, XXXV.1), p.279

Additional Primary Sources

  • Francis White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk (Sheffield, 1854), p. 741

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/view/NCC098527

Management

Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: HMN 4/70/1

Collection: Hamond of Westacre papers

Description: Letters from James Redin. Include Sessions order appointing Hamond and others to inspect Swaffham Bridewell accounts.

Dates: c.1803-1809


Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: NRS 2450, 11E2

Collection: Norfolk Record Society Manuscipts

Description: Petition of North Greenhoe Hundred to Quarter Session against the abolition of Little Walsingham Bridewell and enlargement of the Prison and Court House at Swaffham

Dates: 1828


Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: C/S 4

Collection: Norfolk Quarter Sessions

Description: Sessions minute books of administrative business, including reports of Visiting Justices, Keepers and Surgeons of County Gaol and the various Bridewells

Dates: 1799-1968


Staff

Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: NRS 2448, 11E2

Collection: Norfolk Record Society Manuscipts

Description: Petition to Quarter Sessions from the payers of the County rate in the Hundred of Launditch against a salary increase for the Chaplain of the Swaffham Bridewell

Dates: 1828


Land & Buildings

Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: C/Saa 3/13-15

Collection: Norfolk Quarter Sessions

Description: Plans of Swaffham Bridewell

Dates: 1843