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Ancestry UK

Spinning House Bridewell, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

In July 1628, Thomas Hobson, a local carrier, donated land to representatives of the town and University for the erection of a workhouse and a house of correction or bridewell, to be completed within a period of four years. The building, which became known as the Spinning House, was 'pleasantly situated near the fields at the south end of the parish of Great St Andrew's', on what became St Andrew's Street. It was located on the west side of the street, immediately south of the Baptists chapel. Part of the building was used to imprison vagrants and beggars who were employed in such tasks as beating hemp. Stocks of wool, flax and other materials were also kept on the premises for providing employment for unemployed textile workers who were not resident in the workhouse. However, the main use of the establishment became 'the confinement of such lewd women as the proctors apprehend in houses of ill fame; though sometimes the Corporation send small offenders thither, and the crier of the town is often there to discipline the ladies of pleasure with his whip.'

The Cambridge Spinning House.
© Peter Higginbotham.

In 1784, John Howard recorded:

On the ground-floor, one room for men, 21 feet by 6; and two lodging-rooms for women, 9 feet by 5. In these are lately put bedsteads for straw or coverlets. There is a dungeon or dark room for the refractory. Above is a work-room 19 feet square, for women. In the spring 1779, seventeen women were confined in the day-time, and some or them at night, in this room, which has no fire-place or sewer. This made it extremely offensive, and occasioned a fever or sickness among them, which alarmed the Vice-chancellor, who ordered all of them to be discharged. Two or three died within a few days. There are now added two rooms, in one of which are five cages about 7 feet square., There is a small court; no water

In 1802, an article in the Gentleman's Magazine reported:

Cambridge Town Bridewell, Samuel Barker Keeper, is a square building surrounded by a boundary-wall of 15 feet high and about 5 feet from the prison; was originally bought and endowed for the encouragement of wool-combers and spinners of this town. The basis of the institution was a legacy of the famous carrier Thomas Hobson, who died in 1630. To answer the intention, the keeper is a wool-comber. He employs not only several hands upon the foundation of the charity, but many others: among them his prisoners. His salary is paid out of the charity, 301. and from the University 51. Allowance, town prisoners, 6d. a day. The vice-chancellor's prisoners have 4d. a day and 6d. on Sunday; they are likewise allowed fireing in the winter. Each cell has a mattress, two blankets, and a rug. For men there are three cells at the entrance, each 9 feet by 7½, and near 8 feet high, with straw on the floor. A tub serves the purpose of a necessary in these cells. They are ventilated by an iron grating over each door which has an aperture about 6 inches square. For women there are ten cells, the same size as the men's, and four court-yards with a privy in each. There is only one pump in the prison. Many of the cells are out of repair, and the whole prison very dirty.

In 1838, a report by the Charity Commissioners recorded that "the Workhouse, which is commonly called by the name of the Spinning-house, is a large building in good repair, fit for the reception of about 60 persons." The also noted that prior to 1808:

...the principal use to which the building had been applied was a receptacle for profligate and disorderly women, &c., committed by the vice-chancellor, their maintenance being paid by the University. It is also used for the reception of persons sent by the Mendicity Society of Cambridge so long as it existed; and vagrants not belonging to the town or university were sent there, relieved and discharged. Those committed by the mayor and magistrates were kept there for one night, and forwarded to their parishes in the morning, the expense of their maintenance being paid out of the town rates. Since 1807, the house has been wholly used for these purposes, and the inmates are allowed to remain there in a state of complete idleness."

Large sums of money were expended in 1812 and in 1821 in repairing and enlarging the buildings.

In the Victorian times, the establishment was used to detain local women suspected by University Proctors of having a corrupting influence on its male students. This ended in 1893 following the much publicised case of 17-year-old Daisy Hopkins, who had been arrested for the act of "walking with a member of the university". She sued the Proctors and lost in a trial that severely attacked her moral character but nevertheless prompted much public debate about the legitimacy of such arrests.

The building was demolished in 1901 and a new police station erected on the site. In 2022, the building was converted to the Hobson Hotel.

Records

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Census

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.