After Pentonville Road the next square on the Monopoly board is Jail. It's not assigned a location - the corner squares never are - but I wonder if they had Pentonville Prison in mind when placing Pentonville Road beside the Jail. The two aren't close in real life, Pentonville Prison's a mile north of Pentonville Road, but the nominal disconnect might not have been evident to two Waddingtons employees from Leeds enjoying a day trip to London.
It's not exactly welcoming, nor is it meant to be, but neither is it entirely obvious it's a prison unless you read the signs outside. 'Serving the community for 175 years' is perhaps not the way I'd have phrased it. Other clues include bars on the windows and a significant number of CCTV cameras, almost all of them pointing in rather than out. The front of the building has visible cracks, which isn't ideal in a prison, which'll be why an £11m project is now underway to renovate the gatehouse and reception area. Much greater problems are highlighted in a recent report which found the prison 'unfit' and 'inhumane' with inmates often sharing tiny cells with open toilets, not to mention issues with water, heating and vermin, but that's underfunded Victorian infrastructure for you.
The footprint of the prison building resembles a gingerbread man sprawled on his back, with the chapel as the head and four long wings extending from the central body. Cells are stacked three-high along open galleries, although all you really see from the outside are the arched windows at the end poking up above additional fortifications. It must be somewhat oppressive to live in one of the townhouses on Wheelwright Street and have as your view a set of railings in front of a high brick wall running the entire length of the street. The wall's plainly not high enough either, because multiple signs warn you not to throw things over the top of it and that a two year prison sentence might follow if you try. Other signs point out that this is a drone-free zone, a modern problem somewhat neutered by the metal netting now draped across the cell windows.
Round the back of the prison at the Roman Way Gate I found a dustcart waiting patiently to enter the compound, so filed that away in case I ever end up writing an unlikely prison escape novel. But the perimeter's not exactly the most welcoming place so I didn't linger long, hence the remainder of today's post will be eight lists relating to London's prisons.
Not quite London's prisons
» Bronzefield* (Ashford, Surrey) [women and young offenders]
» Coldingley* (Bisley, Surrey) [men]
» Downview* (Banstead, Surrey) [women]
» High Down* (Banstead, Surrey) [men]
» Send* (Ripley, Surrey) [women]
» The Mount (Bovingdon, Herts) [men]
* part of the London region
Ten previous London prisons 1)Tower of London (1100-1952): The original London lock-up, the White Tower being mostly inescapable. Royal prisoners include Henry VI, Edward V, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and Elizabeth I, additionally Thomas More, Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes, Samuel Pepys, Rudolf Hess and the Kray twins. 2)The Clink (1151-1780): On the South Bank serving the Liberty of the Clink, under the control of the Bishop of Winchester, now a tourist attraction I have never felt the need to visit. 3)Newgate (1188-1902): The first prison to house the accused before trial, mixed sex, rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, executions took place outside. 4)Fleet (1197-1844): Catered for the well-off and the poor, you got what you paid for, destroyed during the Great Fire and the Gordon Riots, replaced by Ludgate station. 5)Marshalsea (1373-1842): Private prison in Southwark, particularly used for debtors, best known for Charles Dickens' father being incarcerated here. 6)Bridewell (1556-1855): Henry VIII's palace converted to 'a place of correction for wayward women' and eventually a full-on lock-up. 7)Tothill Fields (1618-1853): Aka the Westminster House of Correction, greatly enlarged in 1834, a prison in circular 'Panopticon' style, site now occupied by Westminster Cathedral. 8)Coldbath Fields (1795-1885): Also known as the Middlesex House of Correction, often used by short stay prisoners and debtors, site now occupied by the Mount Pleasant sorting office. 9)Millbank (1816-1890): Hexagonal fortress with pentagonal petals, near Vauxhall Bridge, often used as a holding depot for convicts prior to transportation, Tate Britain now on site. 10)Holloway (1852-2016): Significant women's prison, once Western Europe's largest, sold to Peabody for housing, redevelopment finally underway, first of 985 homes due to open in 2027.
Three famous inmates Belmarsh: Ronnie Biggs, Jeffrey Archer, Julian Assange Brixton: Oswald Moseley, George Lansbury, Mick Jagger Feltham: Oliver Postgate. Richard Reid, J Hus Pentonville: Dr Crippen, George Best, Boy George Wandsworth: Oscar Wilde, Gary Glitter, Boris Becker Wormwood Scrubs: John Stonehouse, Leslie Grantham, Pete Doherty
