Tower Hamlets Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Wellclose Prison, Neptune Street Prison

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   unknown

Date closed   [1801]

Location   Kings Public House (or Cock and Neptune) at Wellclose Square   London, Tower Hamlets

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Middlesex

Critical Remarks

London Metropolitan Archives finding aid on prisons states that this gaol had ceased to function by the late eighteenth century, however Nield claims it was still operational in 1812. Only one prisoner had been confined, in 1801, and since that date all prisoners sent to Cold Bath Fields (ID 50).

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Wellclose Prison, Neptune Street Prison

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   unknown

Date closed   [1801]

Location   Kings Public House (or Cock and Neptune) at Wellclose Square   London, Tower Hamlets

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.5101208  Long.   -0.0660974

County   Middlesex

Critical Remarks

London Metropolitan Archives finding aid on prisons states that this gaol had ceased to function by the late eighteenth century, however Nield claims it was still operational in 1812. Only one prisoner had been confined, in 1801, and since that date all prisoners sent to Cold Bath Fields (ID 50).

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.564

Secondary Sources

  • https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/59-prison-records.pdf; https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/497829.html