County Bridewell, Hitchin, Hertfordshire

In the work-house yard, a room for men 20½ feet by 10½; and over it two rooms for women, who go up to them by a ladder. No chimney in any of the rooms: no straw: no court: no water: no allowance: no employment. Keeper's salary, £24: no fees.

Keeper, John Luck. Salary, 2l. No Fees.

Prisoners, 1803, July 15, None. 1807, Sept. 2d, One.

In the Work-house yard, a large room on the ground floor for Men, 20½ feet by 10 feet 6, with two iron-grated windows, and loose straw upon the floor. Over it are two rooms for Women, who ascend to them by a ladder. No chimney in either of the rooms. No court-yard. No water, but as fetched in by the Keeper.

This prison is situated on the outside of the town, on its northern extremity. It consists of a small dwelling-house for the keeper, with an airing-yard adjoining, with three cells, each nine feet eight inches, by seven feet eight inches, and nine feet high, for the use of male prisoners, opening into it. There is a cell at the rear of the keeper's house, nine feet eight inches square, and nine feet high; but. it is a miserably dark and ill ventilated place, quite unlit for the confinement of any prisoner. We were obliged to have a caudle at mid-day, in order to ascertain the condition and dimensions of this apartment. There is a privy opening into this room, which is very offensive. And yet this is the only apartment in which female prisoners can be placed; and one woman lay-in in it very recently. There is no window to this cell; there is an aperture over the door with iron bars for security, but it opens into a dark passage, and scarcely any light or air is admitted through it into the cell.

The males' cells are lighted and ventilated in the same manner; but as they open into the airing-yard, there is sufficient light; and when the cells are not over crowded, the ventilation is tolerably good.

There are in each cell two wooden bedsteads, which nearly occupy the entire floor, and make it almost impossible for the prisoners to move about in the cell. And when, us sometimes happens, two prisoners sleep in each bed, a very inconvenient, unwholesome, and improper crowding of the prisoners is the consequence. We recommend that the wooden bedsteads should be removed, and that hammocks should be substituted for them.

There is in the yard a privy for the use of the male prisoners: there is also a pump, at which they are required to wash every morning; the keeper supplies them with soap and towels. When there are female prisoners, they are attended by the keeper's daughter; and a tub with water, soap, and towels, is daily given in to the females.

One of the cells in the yard is used for straw and lumber; so that only two cells are available for the use of the male prisoners. We found the females' cell filled with various articles belonging to the keeper; and the reason he assigned for placing them there was, that he had no other place in which to put them. The magistrates, however, have recently given orders for the erection of a store-room; and when it is built, all the cells will be kept clear for the use of prisoners.

We observed that ail the cells were much defaced with writing and scratches upon the walls; they were also dirty and untidy, and stand much in need of plastering and lime-washing.

At the time of our inspection, there were only two prisoners in confinement, boys under 14 years of age, sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment They both slept in the same bed: but the keeper stated that this was not the usual practice. A night or two before our visit, four prisoners slept in one of the cells:—two adult prisoners in one bed, and two boys in the other.

In the course of the last year 121 prisoners were committed to this bridewell: 113 males and 8 females. Of these:—

Although this prison is only fit for a lock-up house for prisoners under examination, it is frequently used for convicted prisoners, whose terms of imprisonment are under one month. We strongly recommend that all convicted prisoners should be sent to the Hertford Prison, to undergo their sentences. This mode of procedure might indeed entail an additional expense upon the county for the removal of prisoners; but it would prevent the evil arising from gaol association in utter idleness; it would be productive of much good, by securing the enforcement of a strict and salutary discipline; it would, we believe, operate beneficially, by deterring from the commission of crime, from a persuasion that a punishment so severe awaited the offender in the event of conviction; and it would, in all probability, prove less expensive in the end. We find that prisoners dread a committal to the Hertford House of Correction. Two instances have lately occurred of prisoners having told the keeper of this bridewell, while conveying them to the Hertford Gaol, that they should not mind being sent to St. Albans Prison; but that they did not at all like the Hertford Prison, because the discipline there was so strict.

The keeper of the bridewell, Isaac Skinner, aged 42, was appointed to his office by the Court of Quarter Sessions in April, 1839. His salary is 24l. per annum; and he is allowed an unfurnished house. He acts also as a constable for the town of Hitchin. He states that when absent from the prison on his duty as constable, or when taking prisoners to Hertford, St. Albans, or Bedford, which places are respectively 17 miles distant from Hitchin, his son, who is between 18 and 19 years of age, takes charge of the prison. But we apprehend that, as this young man is apprenticed to a trade, and as his father's salary is but small, the latter cannot afford to occupy his son's time in this way, so often as he himself is called away from the prison; and we have reason to believe that it is sometimes left without any officer in charge of it.

There is no chaplain appointed for this prison; and no religious service of any kind is ever performed in it Since the appointment of the present keeper no clergyman, as such, has ever visited the prisoners; nor are any books or instruction whatever provided for them. The prisoners, having no labour, work, or employment provided for them, spend their time in utter idleness; except when they are employed in cleaning knives and forks, boots and shoes, and kitchen utensils, for the keeper.

There is no regularly appointed surgeon. If a prisoner is taken ill, the keeper calls in any surgeon of the town he thinks proper. He has had occasion to do this only twice in the course of the last year.

There are no rules or regulations for the guidance of the keeper, in the management of the bridewell, or in the treatment of the prisoners. The magistrates, however, are engaged in making a selection from the Hertford Prison rules, of such as they think applicable to this bridewell.

The prison diet consists of nothing more than 1½ lb. of bread; to which convicted prisoners are strictly confined. Prisoners under examination may procure for themselves, or receive from their friends, any plain food, in addition to the prison allowance. No beer or tobacco, however, is permitted. The bread is supplied by a baker in the town, who has served the prison for a number of years. He sends in his bill every half year to the magistrates for the quantity supplied.

The prison bedding consists of a straw mattress and bolster, two blankets, and a coverlet. The bedding, at the time of our visit, was not clean.

After we had made our inspection of this bridewell, we conferred with the Rev. Mr. Sullivan, the only visiting justice, who at present attends to it; and we pointed out to him the several important particulars in which it is so deficient. He entirely concurred with us in opinion, that this prison is altogether unfit for the confinement of prisoners; and that even if it were rendered as efficient as possible, it would still be advisable to send all convicted prisoners to Hertford House of Correction, and to retain the Hitchin Bridewell for prisoners under examination. It would be very desirable that, if it were possible, a portion of the ground at the rear of the prison, belonging to Skinner's Charity, should be rented by the county, and enclosed as a yard for female prisoners. This class of prisoners have no airing-yard at present; and the enclosure which we recommend would not only supply an essential requisite, but would secure for that dark and unwholesome cell, now the only accommodation for female prisoners, a sufficiency of light and ventilation.