London’s Bastille

‘London’s Bastille is both fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable.’ – Fiona Rule, author of The Worst Street in London

In 1794, Britain’s newest and much-heralded prison opened its gates in Clerkenwell, north London. Built on the principles laid down by John Howard, the most vocal and committed prison reformer of the eighteenth century, the new Coldbath Fields House of Correction was intended to be a flagship for the humane improvements that Howard championed. And yet, within just a few years, it had become notorious for its cruelty and injustice.

The burgeoning of British radicalism following the French Revolution, the repressive measures introduced in response by Prime Minister William Pitt, and the appointment of the barbaric Thomas Aris as prison governor all coincided to ensure that this ‘state-of-the-art’ facility would become not merely the foremost political prison of its age, but also the most infamous because of the abuses practised within its walls – abuses to which the government and the magistracy systematically turned a blind eye.