County Bridewell, Preston, Lancashire

This prison, a little distant from the town, was a friary. On the ground-floor is a passage, in which are eleven offensive closets, called boxes (6½ feet by 6), to sleep in; and another room, the dungeon. Over these are a large work room for men, and a less for women. The prison out of repair: but at my visit in 1779, the work-rooms were clean, and the prisoners were spinning worsted. A court in front (of which the prisoners have no use) and a stable; and a: spacious garden backwards for the keeper. No bath.

No water accessible to prisoners: no allowance. Keeper's salary, £60: but the keeper was obliged to pay £50 to his predecessor, who died in 1780; now his salary is augmented to £80 in lieu of the tap. Fees, from those tried at sessions, 10s. 6d. from others, 7s. no table. To this prison in 1778, there were committed 112 prisoners, viz. for felony 14, bastardy 15, misdemeanors 46, vagrants 15, deserters 18, debtors 4. In 1779, there were committed 133;—in 1780, 98;—in 1781, 115;—in 1782, to Sep. 9, 88. (In these numbers are not included the corporation prisoners, who are confined here, there being now no town-gaol.)

Keeper, William Halstead.

Salary, 250. out of which he pays 50l. per annum to a Turnkey. He has also a plot of ground, worth 30l. per annum.

Fees, none. For the conveyance of Prisoners to Lancaster, Wigan, and Ormskirk, one shilling each per mile.

Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Myers; now Rev. Mr. Harrison.

Duty, Prayers and Sermon on Sunday mornings.

Salary, 20l.; and 10l. as Auditor of Accounts.

Surgeon, Mr. Birdsworth.

Salary, 42l. and Medicines furnished by the County.

Task-Master, Thomas Houghton.

Salary, 60l. and ten per cent. on the gross earnings of the Prisoners. He has a Man to assist him, to whom the County allows 14s. a week.

Allowance, every day, breakfast and supper; 7 oz. of bread, 2 oz. of oatmeal, and oz. of salt at each meal, boiled into gruel.

Sunday and Thursday, half a pound of beef, with the bone; seven ounces of bread, with one pound of potatoes; and water to drink.

Monday and Friday, seven ounces of bread each; and one quart of peas, with other vegetables, to ten Prisoners.

Tuesday and Saturday, a stew of cow-head and shins.

Wednesday, seven ounces of bread, and four ounces of cheese each.

REMARKS.

This Prison stands a little way out of the Town of Preston, near the Church-Gate Bar; and is surrounded by a boundary wall; which being at a distance from the house, the Keeper has within it a convenient garden.

On one side of the entrance is the Turnkey's lodge; on the other is the office of the Clerk of the Peace. Up stairs are two reception-cells, where Prisoners are examined before they are admitted into the interior of the house. There are, like wise, rooms for the Turnkey's family. For Prisoners there are six airy courts, about 22 yards by 12 each; four of which are for Men, and two for Women, with water, and a sewer in each. To every court-yard there is a day-room, the average size about 5 yards square.

On the ground-floor are eighteen sleeping-cells, 7 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6; with vaulted roofs. There are also sixteen other cells; but, being very damp, they were not used for the confinement of Prisoners. Upon the same floor likewise, are 48 workshops, in which, when I was there, thirty-one pair of looms were employed.

On the first story are 52 sleeping-cells, of the size of those below; and on the upper story 53 of the same kind. Each cell is fitted up with a wooden bedstead, straw-in-sacking, two or three blankets, and a quilt; and ventilated by an aperture over the door, with an iron-grated window opposite. Here is an excellent kitchen, fitted up with every convenience for frugal cookery; and a room with a bath, in which every Prisoner is washed previous to trial.

Each Prisoner has clean linen every Sunday; and all are required to attend Divine Service, unless prevented by sickness.

The Chapel, which is in the centre of the building, has a cupola on the top; and is so partitioned off, that the Men and Women cannot see each other.

There are two large work-rooms up stairs, in one of which were six pair of looms for weaving, and the other is used for the batting of cotton. Two rooms are set apart for Infirmaries; but, as there were no sick Prisoners at the time of my visit, shoe-makers and taylors were at work in one of them.

The Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Prison are conspicuously stuck up in various parts. The Court, or Session House, is within the walls; and convenient passages lead into it, for Prisoners on Trial. The Act for Preservation of Health, and Clauses against Spirituous Liquors, are both hung up. The Prison is clean.

It being their dinner-hour when I made this visit, I was much pleased with the Order and Regularity of the Prisoners' Behaviour, and the Attention with which it was served. The Keeper was out on business: it could not, therefore, be accidental, but the pursuance of method: and, indeed, Mr. Halstead appeared to me, on both visits, to be well calculated for so important a trust.

The Prisoners here have the other moiety of the Legacy of William Edmondson. It now amounts to 2l. 10s. per annum, and is the only benefaction to this Prison. It is distributed as follows:

Every New-Year's day, each Prisoner receives a loaf of fine bread, value three half-pence; six ounces of cheese, and a pint of ale; and what the Legacy falls short of that allowance is made up out of the earnings.

They have, likewise, a Holiday every New-Year's day, in the afternoon.

Debtors arrested by process out of the Borough Court, for sums under ten pounds, are sent hither.

In October 1802, I had remarked a total neglect of Cleanliness in the court-yards of this Prison; and, for want of a drain, the uncovered deposits were extremely offensive. In some places dunghills, up to the very windows of the work-shops; in another part a hog-sty: and I was sorry to observe that no alteration had taken place at my visit in Oct. 1805. It was said to be intended that the cess-pools in the court-yards should be vaulted or covered over during the next Summer; but I thought the nuisance could not be effectually done away, without regular drains were made for a place so crowded; and that then it would be an excellent Prison. What I had thus noticed, and wished for, is since achieved. Mr. Halstead, by letter in Jan. 1806, told me it was intended, in the course of the Summer, to do something effectual: and by a second letter, of 2d Sept. 1806, he informed "that the dunghills were removed, and the other inconveniences to be shortly done away: that his Prisoners, Men and Women, were well employed; they had plenty of work, though wages were rather low; and if I should ever again be enabled to visit his charge, he hoped it would be found that every defect was sup plied, agreeably to my ideas on the subject." Accordingly, at my last visit, in Nov. 1809, I found six cess-pools had been dug, to receive the night-soil; and being covered over, the Keeper told me they were not offensive, until emptied. I am still fully of opinion, however, that a regular drain would be much better, and quite effectual, as the ground is on an inclined plane, so as to carry off whatever might otherwise offend.

This prison is conveniently situate on an open space of ground in the outskirts of the town of Preston. The exterior wall is of brick, with flanking towers subsequently added for defence. They are loopholed for musketry, and furnished with small guns mounted upon traversing carriages. These defences were made some years ago at a very considerable expense, for the safety of the prison when threatened by the populace; and I cannot forbear remarking the futility of them in a military point of view, inasmuch as they protect every approach but the weakest, and where the most danger is to be apprehended; the one by the Sessions-house, which stands in a line with and forms part of the boundary wall, its windows looking into the interior of the prison. The keeper's house, but lately erected, is likewise built in the exterior wall; it is faced with rusticated free-stone, and neither corresponds nor harmonizes in design with the other prison buildings, and is deficient in the convenient quality of commanding a view of the interior. It contains on the ground floor two parlours, kitchen, laundry, &c.; first floor, two chambers; attic, four chambers and brewhouse. The adjoining lodge is appropriated to the porter, keepers' offices, armory, receiving-room, and two lock-ups for the borough prisoners. This prison, erected at the same time with those of Liverpool and Salford, under the direction of Mr. Howard, has been subjected to various alterations and extensions, from time to time, as the necessity for increased accommodation occurred, no less destructive of the simplicity of its original form than of its present convenience. The sleeping-cells are in single ranges, and differ in one respect from any I have yet seen; the staircases and galleries leading to them being on the outside of the building. The galleries consist simply of a stone coping or landing let into the exterior wall, guarded by a slight iron balustrade. These passages are unprotected from the weather by any covering. This arrangement affords great facility to inspection, and at night it is scarcely possible to talk, from one cell to another, without being detected by the watchman in the area below. The cells for the refractory are in the towers before-mentioned. They are dark, wanting in ventilation, and only fit for a confinement of a few hours' duration. The ordinary sleeping-cells are made use of in cases of prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement.

The part of the prison appropriated to females is very deficient in convenience. The upper range of cells look over the country; the inner divisional walls are not sufficient to keep the women from constantly clambering over them, and the matron's apartments, which are very circumscribed, afford no means of inspection. A better arrangement is very desirable. The hospital is detached and sufficiently commodious, but inconveniently situated. The chapel is light and well ventilated; it has a gallery with separate entrance for the females. The privies are very ill constructed. The soil remains in cesspools in the yards, and every three months the prisoners are employed in emptying and carrying their contents beyond the walls.

Diet.—Sundays and Wednesdays, 4½ ounces of meal, morning and evening; 20 ounces of bread, served in three portions, morning, noon, and night; ½ lb. of beef unboiled and with the bone, which, when boiled, will make ¼ lb. of solid meat; 1 lb. of potatoes, and ½ an ounce of salt. Mondays and Thursdays, meal, bread, and salt, as on Sundays; soup for dinner made from the bones, and broth left then, with ½ a pint of peas. Tuesdays and Fridays, meal, bread, and salt, as usual, h!b. of potatoes, and 2 ounces of cheese. Saturday, meal, bread, and salt, as usual; soup for dinner, made from one cow-head for every 20 prisoners, and 4 only to be used. For every other 20 prisoners, 12 lbs. of stew, and ½ a pint of peas to each. The untried are permitted, in addition to this liberal diet, to receive from their friends or purchase 2 lbs. of bread and 1 lb. of cheese weekly. The keeper furnishes the extra food ordered by the surgeon at the following rate: Dinners, 8d. each; broth as dinners; milk for tea, ¼d. each. An extra allowance of food, consisting of 10 ounces of bread daily, and ¼ lb. of cheese, is given to prisoners employed about the prison, and of 6 ounces of bread to those at the wheel. Women with infants receive an additional ½ lb. of bread and a pint of milk daily. The prisoners take their meals in a detached building of two stories, the felons in the upper floor, in the lower the misdemeanants and untried. Strict silence is maintained during meals, a turnkey being present in each room. The bread is good seconds, and all the provisions of excellent quality. The dietary appears to me sufficiently ample without any increase to those at the tread-wheel, or engaged in light employments. The surgeon stales the diet to be equal in quantity to that of the class of labourers in the country. The principal turnkey states, "The boys, who have the same allowance as the men, cannot eat all their food. On Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and particularly on the latter day, when the soup is very strong, I have seen them leave half their food. I have heard prisoners say they get more to eat in the prison than outside." Another turnkey says, "There are a great many here who are better off than those without I have heard them say so. Some of them have so much food they can hardly eat it; some pick out the beat bits and leave the rest; others eat till they can scarcely bide."

Clothing.—Convicted felons, a parti-coloured dress of red and yellow frieze, two shirts, clogs, and cap. Convicted misdemeanants, similar to the felons; the colour of the frieze grey. Women, parti-coloured jacket, blue petticoat, white cap, clogs, and body linen.

Bedding.—Paillasse, two blankets, one rug in summer, two in winter.

Heat.—The sleeping-cella are not warmed. Fuel is allowed to the day-rooms from October to March.

Cleanliness.—The greatest attention is paid to this necessary quality. Frequent inspection of the prisoners' persons, who are regularly mustered for this purpose, and daily ones of the cells, are made by the keeper. The rooms occupied by the debtors are an exception to the general cleanliness of the prison. They were very dirty and disorderly on the day of inspection.

Health.—The attendance of the surgeon is daily, and oftener when required. He inspects the prisoners before they are classed. Cases of itch, gonorrhoea, and syphilis are common, but mostly confined to the vagrants; catarrhs and inflammatory fevers occasionally prevail. Cases of small-pox likewise occur. The surgeon states, "there is no prejudice, but much indifference to vaccination in the vicinity." The good health of the prisoners is remarkable. When a case of fever occurs, an order is procured from a magistrate, and the patient is removed to the Fever Hospital, a parochial establishment in Preston. A fixed sum is paid by the county, and the prisoner returns when in a state of convalescence. The surgeon keeps no sick-book nor journal. There is a room appropriated as a surgery, where the medicines are dispensed.

Moral and Religious Instruction.—The chaplain performs two full services on the Sabbath, and reads prayers daily from March to October at half-past seven, and the remainder of the year at half-past eight. He generally spends, upon an average, two hours daily in the prison. He administers the sacrament four times a-year. He states, upon this subject, "I have great difficulty about the sacrament. I have a great many applications, but am convinced by far the greater number of them are made with the view of grounding thereon a demand for future favours and indulgence." The usual number of communicants are about 8. The cooks, women with children, and the nurses at the hospital, do not attend divine service. He sees the prisoners privately; an opportunity is afforded him of doing so as they come out of chapel, but says, his ministry in this respect has not its full scope, in consequence of the labour. The books, with the exception of those provided by the Roman Catholic minister to prisoners of that persuasion, are under his superintendence. There is but an imperfect provision for the instruction of the male prisoners, it being restricted to the untried. A schoolmaster attends for two hours daily. All the convicted are so much occupied by the labour to which they are sentenced, that they are not spared for instruction. Many of the prisoners are supplied with elementary books, and at meal times and in the mornings in the summer, there is a kind of mutual instruction carried on among themselves. The uneducated form a proportion of about 3 to 1. A library has been established, on a similar plan to the one at Lancaster Castle. It contains the whole of the publications of the Religious Tract Society, and an extensive selection from those of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. On Sunday evenings the volumes are exchanged and distributed. The book most frequently asked for is Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Bibles are not furnished promiscuously, but at the request of the prisoners. No attempt is made to instruct the females. The chaplain sees them three or four times a-week, in the matron's apartments. The chaplain further states, that the discipline of the prison is not of a deterring nor reformatory character; he considers that without total silence, or total separation, it is in fact injurious rather than otherwise, particularly as regards the boys; that if 5 boys came in charged with felony, 3 of them would continue coming in until transported. The boys are generally from the cotton-mills. The prisoners from the towns are most intelligent; the greater number who come from the rural districts are half weavers half farmers, and though uncouth, are more quiet than those from the towns. There is a great desire among them for instruction, and a great want of primary schools, particularly in the neighbourhood of Blackburn. The criminal population are much more fearful of transportation than they were. The debtors attend divine service.

Classification.—The debtors, from the Borough Court, are confined in this prison, and the females are most improperly placed with the criminals of the misdemeanant class.

Labour.—The tread-wheels are in four separate buildings, with open iron bars in front, forming a circular area, with the machinery in the centre.

The keeper and the miller purchase the grain in the market. The flour is disposed of by retail. The quantity sold daily averages about 310lbs., and the sum received weekly is about 14l. The purchasers are generally of the poorer class. It is sold at a trifle less than the retail price in the town. This retailing of flour at the gate brings a number of persons to the prison, occupies much of the officers' time, and causes a prisoner to be occupied all day close to the gate in carrying the meal from the interior of the prison. Prohibited articles have been introduced, and a prisoner effected his escape by the facilities afforded by what I consider, to say the least, a very inconvenient practice. The employments are weaving, picking wool, cooking, painting, carpentering, gardening, &c.; the weavers receive one-fourth of their earnings: the others are remunerated with extra provisions: the females make, mend, and wash the male prisoners' clothes and linen.

Offences and Punishments.—The usual offences, misbehaviour on the wheel, fighting, and climbing over the walls, of the yards. The punishment inflicted is almost without exception three days' solitary confinement.

Irons.—Refractory prisoners, 19 lbs.; transports, 61bs; The keeper states that it is the practice to place the convicts in irons immediately upon being sentenced to transportation, and without the written authority of a magistrate. There were no such prisoners at the period of inspection.

Scourge.—Handle, oak, twenty-five inches long; nine lashes, twenty inches long, of common whipcord, eight single knots in each; the whipping is inflicted by the porter, who receives 1s. for each punishment.

Visits and Letters.—Convicted prisoners are allowed to write at the discretion of the keeper, and to receive visits once in three months; the untried, once a-week, and oftener if thought proper.