Wymondham House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Wymondham County Bridewell, Wymondham Prison, Wymondham County House of Correction, Wymondham County Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison -  House of Correction/Bridewell

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1787/ 1832

Date closed   1825/ 1878

Location   Bridewell Street   Wymondham

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Norfolk

Critical Remarks

Closed in 1825 and prisoners relocated to the rebuilt county gaol at Norwich Castle (ID 51). However, reopened in 1832 as a County House of Correction for females. In 1848 part of the building was converted into a lock up for the police, with quarters for one policeman and three cells. The lock up held both men and women under arrest.

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Wymondham County Bridewell, Wymondham Prison, Wymondham County House of Correction, Wymondham County Gaol

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   County

Date opened   1787/ 1832

Date closed   1825/ 1878

Location   Bridewell Street   Wymondham

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.570989  Long.   1.1172553

County   Norfolk

Critical Remarks

Closed in 1825 and prisoners relocated to the rebuilt county gaol at Norwich Castle (ID 51). However, reopened in 1832 as a County House of Correction for females. In 1848 part of the building was converted into a lock up for the police, with quarters for one policeman and three cells. The lock up held both men and women under arrest.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   195

Daily Greatest number   -   47

 

Year 1823

Annual Committed   -   233

Daily Census   -   30

 

Year 1833

Annual Committed   -   104

Daily Census   -   22

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   101

Daily Census   -   10

 

Year 1843

Annual Confined   -   143

Daily Census   -   20

 

Year 1848

Annual Confined   -   133

Daily Daily average   -   15

 

Year 1863

Annual Committed   -   159

Daily Greatest number   -   29

 

Year 1868

Annual Committed   -   179

Daily Daily average   -   20

 

Year 1873

Annual Committed   -   93

Daily Daily average   -   10

 

Year 1878

Annual Committed   -   21

Daily Daily average   -   0

Principal Primary Sources

  • James Neild, The State of the Prisons of England, Scotland and Wales (London, 1812), p.600
  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.34
  • 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.81; 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.101; 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.112
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1824, XIX.359), p.162; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1825, XXIII.1), p.184; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1826, XXIV.1), p.188; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.1), p.184; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1834, XLVI.1), p.171; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1835, XLIV.225), p.166; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1836, XLII.1), p.109; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1837, XLV.1), p.110; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1837-8, XLIII.227), p.116; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXXVIII.17), p.111; Reports Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.1), p.119; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1841, XVIII.1), p.124; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXXII.1), p.125; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1843, XLIII.1), p.128; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXXIX.403), p.129; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1845, XXXVII.417), p.155; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1846, XXXIV.187), p.147; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847, XLVII.297), p.163; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847-48, LII.465), p.162
  • Abstract Return of Establishment and Expenditure of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.241), p.44
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District. First Report (Parl. Papers, 1836, XXXV.161), p.60; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern, Third Report (Parl. Papers, 1837-38, XXXI.1), p.147; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXV.565), p.98; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXI.1), p.135; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Eighth Report (Parl. Papers, 1843, XXV. & XXVI.249), p.179; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Tenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1845, XXIV.1), p.193; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland and Eastern District, Fourteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1849, XXVI.1), p.36; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1850, XXVIII.291), p.17; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Sixteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1851, XXVII.461), p.161; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventeenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1852-53, LII.1), p.76; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Eighteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1856, XXXIII.1), p.46; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Twentieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1857, Session 1, VII.313), p.40; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1859, Session 1, XI.1), p.88; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1860, XXXV.1), p.82; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1861, XXIX.45), p.80; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland District, Twenty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1862, XXV.93), p.81; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Twenty-eighth Report (Parl. Papers, 1863, XXIII.1), p.63; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirtieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1865, XXIII.1), p.173; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-first Report (Parl. Papers, 1866, XXXVII.1), p.154; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-second Report (Parl. Papers, 1867-68, XXXIV.203), p.208; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-third Report (Parl. Papers, 1868-69, XXIX.1), p.146; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1870, XXXVII.1), p.158; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1871, XXIX.241), p.196; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-sixth Report (Parl. Papers, 1872, XXXI.1), p.114; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1873, XXXII.1), p.229; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-eighth Report (Parl. Papers, 1874, XXIX.1), p.263; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Thirty-ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1875, XXXVII.1), p.284; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Fortieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1876, XXXV.1), p.284; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Forty-first Report (Parl. Papers, 1877, XLIII.1), p.287; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Southern District, Forty-second Report (Parl. Papers, 1878, XLI.1), p.287

Additional Primary Sources

  • Francis White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk (Sheffield, 1854), p. 483

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/view/NCC098527; Neil James Jenson, 'Wymondham Bridewell: The Hidden Past' (Wymondham Heritage Society, 1997); http://www.wymondhamheritagemuseum.co.uk

Management

Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: GTN 5/9/50

Collection: Harbord papers

Description: Correspondence. Including on treadmill at Wymondham (opinions, diagrams etc)

Dates: 1821-1823


Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: C/S 5/15

Collection: Norfolk Quarter Sessions

Description: Wymondham Magistrates' Bridewell Committee Minutes

Dates: 1832-1864


Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: GTN 5/9/78

Collection: Harbord papers

Description: Philip Wodehouse, Hington, re alleged refusal to permit a Ladies' Committee to visit Wymondham Bridewell

Dates: 1832-1833


Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: GTN 5/9/80

Collection: Harbord papers

Description: Letters to and from Lord Suffield (including draft replies). Copy of statement by Anne Everett (Wymondham Quaker) re refusal by Visiting Magistrates to grant Ladies Committee (including Elizabeth Fry) permission to visit women prisoners in Wymondham Bridewell to instruct them, prisoners' activities, comparison with situation at Norwich Castle prison vis à vis Chaplain, wants to check supervision of prisoners. Also, Suffield to Lord Wodehouse re Everett's statement with which Suffield agrees. Elizabeth Fry (The Cedars, Upton Lane, West Ham, Essex) re her disappointment at Magistrates' decision since ladies allowed to visit convict ships.

Dates: 1832-1833


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: NCC will register Code 41

Collection: None

Description: Johnson, Thomas, Governor of Wymondham Bridewell, of Wymondham

Dates: 1856


Prisoners

Archive name: Norfolk Record Office

Catalogue ref: ACC 2003/49

Collection: Chief Superintendent Frank D. Slack's collection of records relating to policing in Norfolk and Norwich

Description: Wymondham Bridewell, charge book or lock up book

Dates: 1850-1866