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Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street, just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The prison was extended and rebuilt many times, and remained in use for over 700 years, from 1188 to 1902, when it was demolished and the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) was built on the site.
The old prison was demolished and replaced by a new building designed by George Dance between 1770 and 1778. He also designed the adjacent court-house. The new prison was attacked by rioting mobs during the Gordon Riots in 1780: the prison was set on fire, many prisoners died during the blaze and approximately 300 escaped to temporary freedom.
The prison was rebuilt two years later (in 1782), 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. Each section was further sub-divided to accommodate felons and debtors.
In 1783, the site of London's gallows was moved from Tyburn to Newgate. Public executions outside the prison - by this time, London's main prison - continued to draw large crowds. It was also possible to visit the prison by obtaining a permit from the Lord Mayor of the City of London or a sheriff. The condemned were kept in narrow somber cells separated from Newgate Street by a thick wall and receiving only a dim light from the inner courtyard. The gallows were constructed outside a window in Newgate Street.
The original door from a prison cell used to house St. Oliver Plunkett in 1681 survives today and is on display at St. Peter's Church in Drogheda, Ireland. The original iron gate leading to the gallows was used for decades in an alleyway in Buffalo, New York and is currently housed in that city at Canisius College.
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