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Ancestry UK

Lock-up, Blackburn, Lancashire

By the 1840s, a small lock-up was located in the town police station on Clayton Street, Blackburn.

In 1847, the Inspectors of Prisons reported:

This lock-up house, containing four cells, is situated in a rather low situation, about the centre of town, and forms part of the police station.

The cells are of the following dimensions, viz., 9 feet long, 7 feet wide, 7 feet high, and containing about 450 cubic feet each.

There is a house for the superintendent of police, rooms for the constables, and a room for the magistrates, but this last is small and inconvenient.

The cells are lighted by an iron grating opening into a passage, but one of the cells is nearly dark. They are warmed by a hot water apparatus, which appears to work very well.

The ventilation is at present insufficient, there being none other than is afforded by the iron grates above mentioned, and small openings in the doors. The ventilation might, however, be improved, and then the cells would be suitable for their purposes.

There are wooden benches to lie on, but no bedding.

The cells were clean and in neat order.

Tho superintendent stated that he was allowed fourpence per meal for each prisoner; that the prisoners had two meals per day, and that their food was milk and bread.

He said that the number of prisoners last year was 520; that the greatest number at one time was 6; and the longest time that any person has been detained was four days. A large portion of the 520 prisoners had been merely lodged in this lock-up house while passing through Blackburn on their way to Preston.

In 1856, a new police station, which included 18 cells, was incorporated into the new town hall site on King William Street.

Records

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Bibliography

  • Prison Oracle - resources those involved in present-day UK prisons.
  • GOV.UK - UK Government's information on sentencing, probation and support for families.

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.