Editing Newgate Prison (section)

==History==
[[File:Old Newgate.jpg|thumb|[[Newgate]], the old city gate and prison]]
In the 12th century, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] instituted legal reforms that gave the Crown more control over the administration of justice. As part of his [[Assize of Clarendon]] of 1166, he required the construction of prisons, where the accused would stay while royal judges debated their innocence or guilt and subsequent punishment. In 1188, Newgate was the first institution established to meet that purpose.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Newgate: London's Prototype of Hell|last=Halliday|first=Stephen|publisher=The History Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7509-3896-9}}</ref>  Also around this time, the [[Sheriffs of London]] were given jurisdiction in [[Middlesex]], as well as in the [[City of London]].<ref name=vch_middlesex>{{cite book |author= Victoria County History |title= A history of the County of Middlesex |volume= 2 |pages= 15–60. Paragraph 12 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22153 |access-date= 2 April 2012|author-link= Victoria County History }}</ref>

A few decades later in 1236, in an effort to significantly enlarge the prison, the king converted one of the Newgate turrets, which still functioned as a main gate into the city, into an extension of the prison. The addition included new dungeons and adjacent buildings, which would remain unaltered for roughly two centuries.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|title=Newgate Prison in the Middle Ages|last=Bassett|first=Margery|date=1943|journal=Medieval Academy of America|volume=18|issue=2|pages=233–246|doi=10.2307/2850646|jstor=2850646|s2cid=162217628}}</ref>

By the 15th century, however, Newgate was in need of repair. Following pressure from reformers who learned that the women's quarters were too small and did not contain their own latrines – obliging women to walk through the men's quarters to reach one – officials added a separate tower and chamber for female prisoners in 1406.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=London in the Later Middle Ages: Government and People, 1200–1500 |last=Barron |first=Caroline |author-link=Caroline Barron |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0199284412 |location=Oxford |pages=164–166 }}</ref> Some Londoners bequeathed their estates to repair the prison. The building was collapsing and decaying, and many prisoners were dying from the close quarters, overcrowding, rampant disease, and bad sanitary conditions. Indeed, one year, 22 prisoners died from "[[typhus|gaol fever]]". The situation in Newgate was so dire that in 1419, city officials temporarily shut down the prison.<ref name=":1" />

The [[executor]]s of the will of [[Lord Mayor of the City of London|Lord Mayor]] [[Richard Whittington|Dick Whittington]] were granted a licence to renovate the prison in 1422.  The gate and gaol were pulled down and rebuilt. There was a new central hall for meals, a new chapel, and the creation of additional chambers and basement cells with no light or ventilation.<ref name=":1" /> There were three main wards: the Master's side for those could afford to pay for their own food and accommodations, the Common side for those who were too poor, and a Press Yard for special prisoners.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=London: The Biography|last=Ackroyd|first=Peter|publisher=Nan A. Talese|year=2000|isbn=978-0385497718|location=New York}}</ref> The king often used Newgate as a holding place for heretics, traitors, and rebellious subjects brought to London for trial.<ref name=":1" /> The prison housed both male and female felons and debtors. Prisoners were separated into wards by sex.  By the mid-15th century, Newgate could accommodate roughly 300 prisoners. Though the prisoners lived in separate quarters, they mixed freely with each other and visitors to the prison.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Background – Prisons and Lockups – London Lives |url=http://www.londonlives.org/static/Prisons.jsp |website=www.londonlives.org |access-date=2015-12-11|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225005644/http://www.londonlives.org/static/Prisons.jsp|archive-date=2015-12-25}}</ref>

The prison was destroyed in the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, and was rebuilt in 1672 by Sir [[Christopher Wren]].<ref name=Timbs>{{cite book|first=John|last=Timbs |author-link=John Timbs|title=Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis|url=https://archive.org/stream/curiositiesoflon00timbrich#page/697/mode/1up |year=1855|publisher=D. Bogue|page=697}}</ref> In 1752, a [[windmill]] was built on top of the prison by [[Stephen Hales]] in an effort to provide ventilation.<ref name=Buckland>{{cite web |url=https://mailchi.mp/millsarchive.org/the-newgate-prison-windmill |title=The Newgate Prison Windmill |first=Stephen |last=Buckland |publisher=[[The Mills Archive]] |access-date=14 November 2022 }}</ref>

[[File:Newgate Prison Publ 1800.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Elevation and plan of Newgate Prison published in 1800]]
In 1769, construction was begun by the King's Master Mason, [[John Deval]],<ref>Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnisp.129</ref> to enlarge the prison and add a new 'Old Bailey' sessions house.  Parliament granted £50,000 (~£9.3 million in 2020 terms) towards the cost, and the City of London provided land measuring {{convert|1600|ft|-2}} by {{convert|50|ft}}. The work followed the designs of [[George Dance the Younger]]. The new prison was constructed to an ''[[architecture terrible]]'' design intended to discourage law-breaking. The building was laid out around a central courtyard, and was divided into two sections: a "Common" area for poor prisoners and a "State area" for those able to afford more comfortable accommodation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thomaslayton.org.uk/2012/10/15/design-for-prison/|title=Design for Newgate prison|publisher=The Layton Collection|access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>

Construction of the second Newgate Prison was almost finished when it was stormed by a mob during the [[Gordon riots]] in June 1780. The building was gutted by fire, and the walls were badly damaged; the cost of repairs was estimated at £30,000 (~£5.6 million in 2020 terms). Dance's new prison was finally completed in 1782.<ref name=ill>{{cite book |last1=Britton |first1=John |last2=Pugin |first2=A. |title=Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London: With Historical and Descriptive Accounts of each Edifice |volume= 2|year=1828 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vpw5AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA102 |location=London |pages=102 ''et seq.''}}</ref>

During the early 19th century, the prison attracted the attention of the social reformer [[Elizabeth Fry]]. She was particularly concerned at the conditions in which female prisoners (and their children) were held. After she presented evidence to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] improvements were made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/13/Elizabeth-Fry |title=Elizabeth Fry|publisher=Quakers in the World|access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref>

The prison closed in 1902, and was demolished in 1903.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRK1APtXtA4C&pg=PA218|title=A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London and Its Environs With Two Large Section Plans of Central London|year=1919|publisher=Ward, Lock and Company |page=218}}</ref>