Millbank Prison or Millbank Penitentiary [1] was a prison in Millbank, Westminster, London, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary, and which for part of its history served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. It was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890.
The site at Millbank was originally purchased in 1799 from the Marquess of Salisbury for £12,000 by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, acting on behalf of the Crown, for the erection of his proposed panopticon prison as Britain's new National Penitentiary. [2] [3] [4] After various changes in circumstance, the Panopticon plan was abandoned in 1812. Proposals for the National Penitentiary continued, however, and were given a legislative basis in the Penitentiary House, etc. Act 1812 (52 Geo. 3. c. 44). An architectural competition for a new prison building on the Millbank site attracted 43 entrants: the winning design was that of William Williams, drawing master at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Williams' basic plan was adapted by a practising architect, Thomas Hardwick, who began construction in the same year. [5]
| Millbank Penitentiary Act 1816 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to regulate the General Penitentiary for Convicts, at Millbank, in the County of Middlesex. |
| Citation | 56 Geo. 3. c. 63 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 22 June 1816 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Millbank Prison Act 1843 |
Status: Repealed | |
The marshy site on which the prison stood meant that the builders experienced problems of subsidence from the outset, and explains the succession of architects. [2] It was to consist of a hexagonal central courtyard with an elongated pentagonal courtyard on each outer wall of the central courtyard; the three outer corners of the pentagonal courtyards each had a tower one storey higher than the three floors of the rest of the building. When the boundary wall reached a height of about six feet high it began to tilt and crack. After 18 months, with £26,000 spent on it, Hardwick resigned in 1813, and John Harvey took over the role. Harvey was dismissed in turn in 1815, and replaced by Robert Smirke, who brought the project to completion in 1821. [5] Further legislation was passed in the form of the Millbank Penitentiary Act 1816 (56 Geo. 3. c. 63).
In February 1816 the first prisoners were admitted during the construction process, but the building creaked and several windows spontaneously shattered. Smirke and the engineer John Rennie the Elder were called in, and they recommended demolition of three of the towers and the underpinning of the entire building with concrete foundations, in form of a raft: the first known use of this material for foundations in Britain since the Roman Empire. [6] However, this added considerably to the construction costs, which eventually totalled £500,000, more than twice the original estimate and equivalent to £500 per cell. [2]
The first prisoners, all women, were admitted on 26 June 1816. The first men arrived in January 1817. The prison held 103 men and 109 women by the end of 1817, and 452 men and 326 women by late 1822. Sentences of five to ten years in the National Penitentiary were offered as an alternative to transportation to those thought most likely to reform.
In addition to the problems of construction, the marshy site fostered disease, to which the prisoners had little immunity owing to their extremely poor diet. In 1818 the authorities engaged Dr. Alexander Copland Hutchison of Westminster Dispensary as Medical Supervisor, to oversee the health of the inmates. [7] In 1822–23 an epidemic swept through the prison, which seems to have comprised a mixture of dysentery, scurvy, depression and other disorders. [8] The decision was eventually taken to evacuate the buildings for several months: the female prisoners were released, and the male prisoners temporarily transferred to the prison hulks at Woolwich, where their health improved.
The design of Millbank also turned out to be unsatisfactory. The network of corridors was so labyrinthine that even the warders got lost; [9] and the ventilation system allowed sound to carry, so that prisoners could communicate between cells. The annual running costs turned out to be an unsupportable £16,000.
| Millbank Prison Act 1843 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for regulating the Prison at Millbank. |
| Citation | 6 & 7 Vict. c. 26 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 27 June 1843 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes |
|
| Amended by | Criminal Lunatics Act 1884 |
| Repealed by | Millbank Prison Act 1892 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Millbank Prison Act 1848 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for amending the Act for regulating the Prison at Millbank. |
| Citation | 11 & 12 Vict. c. 104 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 4 September 1848 |
In view of these problems, the decision was eventually taken to build a new "model prison" at Pentonville, which opened in 1842 and took over Millbank's role as the National Penitentiary. By the Millbank Prison Act 1843 (6 & 7 Vict. c. 26), Millbank's status was downgraded, and it became a holding depot for convicts prior to transportation. Every person sentenced to transportation was sent to Millbank first, where they were held for three months before their final destination was decided. By 1850, around 4,000 people were condemned annually to transportation from the UK. [5] Prisoners awaiting transportation were kept in solitary confinement and restricted to silence for the first half of their sentence.
| Millbank Prison Act 1892 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to transfer the site of Millbank Prison to the management of the Commissioners of Works. |
| Citation | 55 & 56 Vict. c. 1 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 29 March 1892 |
Large-scale transportation ended in 1853 (although the practice continued on a reduced scale until 1867); and Millbank then became an ordinary local prison, and from 1870 a military prison. By 1886 it had ceased to hold inmates, and it closed in 1890. [10] Demolition began in 1892, and continued sporadically until 1903.
The plan of the prison comprised a circular chapel at the centre of the site, surrounded by a three-storey hexagon made up of the governor's quarters, administrative offices and laundries, surrounded in turn by six pentagons of cell blocks. The buildings of each pentagon were set around a cluster of five small courtyards (with a watchtower at the centre) used as airing-yards, and in which prisoners undertook labour. [11] The three outer angles of each pentagon were distinguished by tall circular towers, described in 1862 as "Martello-like": these served in part as watchtowers, but their primary purpose was to contain staircases and water-closets. [12] [13] The third and fourth pentagons (those to the north-west, furthest from the entrance) were used to house female prisoners, and the remaining four for male prisoners.
In the Handbook of London in 1850 the prison was described as follows: [5]
A mass of brickwork equal to a fortress, on the left bank of the Thames, close to Vauxhall Bridge; erected on ground bought in 1799 of the Marquis of Salisbury, and established pursuant to 52 Geo. III., c. 44, [a] passed Aug 20th, 1812. It was designed by Jeremy Bentham [factually incorrect], to whom the fee-simple of the ground was conveyed, and is said to have cost the enormous sum of half a million sterling. The external walls form an irregular octagon, and enclose upwards of sixteen acres of land. Its ground-plan resembles a wheel, the governor's house occupying a circle in the centre, from which radiate six piles of building, terminating externally in towers. The ground on which it stands is raised but little above the river, and was at one time considered unhealthy. It was first named "The Penitentiary", or "Penitentiary House for London and Middlesex", and was called "The Millbank Prison" pursuant to 6 & 7 of Victoria, c. 26. [b] It is the largest prison in London. Every male and female convict sentenced to transportation in Great Britain is sent to Millbank previous to the sentence being executed. Here they remain about three months under the close inspection of the three inspectors of the prison, at the end of which time the inspectors report to the Home Secretary, and recommend the place of transportation. The number of persons in Great Britain and Ireland condemned to transportation every year amounts to about 4000. So far as the accommodation of the prison permits, the separate system is adopted.
Each cell had a single window (looking into the pentagon courtyard), and was equipped with a washing tub, a wooden stool, a hammock and bedding, and books including a Bible, a prayer-book, a hymn-book, an arithmetic-book, a work entitled Home and Common Things, and publications of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. [12]
Irish republican prisoner Michael Davitt, who was held briefly at Millbank in 1870, described the experience:
Westminster Clock is not far distant from the penitentiary, so that its every stroke is as distinctly heard in each cell as if it were situated in one of the prison yards. At each quarter of an hour, day and night it chimes a bar of the "Old Hundredth" and those solemn tones strike on the ears of the lonely listeners like the voice of some monster spirit singing the funeral dirge of Time. [14]
As the prison was progressively demolished its site was redeveloped. The principal new buildings erected were the National Gallery of British Art (now Tate Britain), which opened in 1897; the Royal Army Medical College, the buildings of which were adapted in 2005 to become the Chelsea College of Art & Design; and –using the original bricks of the prison –the Millbank Estate, a housing estate built by the London County Council (LCC) between 1897 and 1902. The estate comprises 17 buildings, each named after a distinguished painter, and is Grade II listed.
A large circular bollard stands by the river with the inscription: "Near this site stood Millbank Prison which was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890. This buttress stood at the head of the river steps from which, until 1867, prisoners sentenced to transportation embarked on their journey to Australia."
Part of the perimeter ditch of the prison survives running between Cureton Street and John Islip Street. It is now used as a clothes-drying area for residents of Wilkie House.
Archaeological investigations in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the sites of Chelsea College of Art and Design and Tate Britain recorded significant remains of the foundations of the external pentagon walls of the prison, of parts of the inner hexagon, of two of the courtyard watchtowers, of drainage culverts, and of Smirke's concrete raft. [15] [16]
The granite gate piers at the entrance of Purbeck House, High Street, Swanage in Dorset, and a granite bollard next to the gate, are thought by Historic England to be possibly from Millbank Prison. [17]
Charles Dickens describes the prison in chapter 52 ("Obstinacy") of his novel, Bleak House (1852–53). One of the characters is put into custody there, and other characters go to visit him. Esther Summerson, one of the book's narrators, gives a brief description of its layout. [18]
In Henry James's realist novel The Princess Casamassima (1886) the prison is the "primal scene" of Hyacinth Robinson's life: the visit to his mother, dying in the infirmary, is described in chapter 3. James visited Millbank on 12 December 1884 to gain material. [19]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in chapter 8 of The Sign of Four (1890) refers to Holmes and Watson crossing the Thames from the house of Mordecai Smith and landing by the Millbank Penitentiary.
In chapter 8 of Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912), Professor Challenger says that he dislikes walking along the Thames as it is always sad to see one's final destination. Challenger means that he expects to be buried at Westminster Abbey, but his rival Professor Summerlee responds sardonically that he understands that Millbank Prison has been demolished.
The prison is a key location within Sarah Waters' novel Affinity (1999).
The prison, Bentham's philosophy surrounding it, and a fictionalized account of Smirke's role in its construction play a key part in the plot of horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives (2016–2020) by Jonathan Sims. [20]
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.
The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single corrections officer, without the inmates knowing whether or not they are being watched.
Penal transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their destination. While the prisoners may have been released once the sentences were served, they generally did not have the resources to return home.
Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Millbank Tower and prominent art institutions such as Tate Britain and the Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Port Arthur is a town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. It is located approximately 97 kilometres (60 mi) southeast of the state capital, Hobart.
Lambeth Bridge is a road traffic and footbridge crossing the River Thames in an east–west direction in central London. The river flows north at the crossing point. Downstream, the next bridge is Westminster Bridge; upstream, the next bridge is Vauxhall Bridge.
HM Prison Pentonville is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of the London Borough of Islington, north London. In 2015 the justice secretary, Michael Gove, described Pentonville as "the most dramatic example of failure" within the prisons estate.
Sir Robert Smirke was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles. As an attached architect within the Office of Works, he designed several major public buildings, including the main block and façade of the British Museum and altered or repaired others. He was a pioneer in the use of structural iron and concrete foundations, and was highly respected for his accuracy and professionalism. His advice was often sought in architectural competitions and urban planning, especially later in his life.
Stateville Correctional Center (SCC) is a maximum security state prison for men in Crest Hill, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. It is a part of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
In the UK prison registers were kept from 1805 to 1892. They list the place of birth and given name of the inmate, along with his any evidence of identity and place of residence, while some also include marital status, religion and number of children.
Tothill Fields Bridewell was a prison located in the Westminster area of central London between 1618 and 1884. It was named "Bridewell" after the Bridewell Palace, which during the 16th century had become one of the City of London's most important prisons. Tothill Fields later became the Westminster House of Correction.
The Penitentiary Act was a British Act of Parliament passed in 1779 which introduced a policy of state prisons for the first time. The Act was drafted by the prison reformer John Howard and the jurist William Blackstone and recommended imprisonment as an alternative sentence to death or transportation.
The separate system is a form of prison management based on the principle of keeping prisoners in solitary confinement. When first introduced in the early 19th century, the objective of such a prison or "penitentiary" was that of penance by the prisoners through silent reflection upon their crimes and behavior, as much as that of prison security. More commonly however, the term "separate system" is used to refer to a specific type of prison architecture built to support such a system.
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, remand center, hoosegow, and slammer, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.
The La Roquette Prisons were prisons in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, on both sides of the rue de la Roquette. Opened in 1830, they were finally closed in 1974. Today the site of la petite Roquette is occupied by square de la Roquette, the largest square in the 11th arrondissement.
The Richmond General Penitentiary was a prison established in 1820 in Grangegorman, Dublin, Ireland as an alternative to transportation. It was part of an experiment into a penitentiary system which also involved Millbank Penitentiary, London. Richmond and Millbank penitentiaries were the first prisons in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to specialise in reform rather than punishment. The building was designed by the architect Francis Johnston and decorated by George Stapleton. The building ceased to be a penitentiary in 1831, and later became part of the Richmond Asylum.
The British Columbia Penitentiary was a federal maximum security prison located in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. The BC Penitentiary operated for 102 years, from 1878 until it was decommissioned in 1980. It was the first federal penal institution west of Manitoba. The Gatehouse was sold on September 8, 2021.
The Queen Alexandra Military Hospital (QAMH) opened in July 1905. It was constructed immediately to the north of the Tate Britain adjacent to the River Thames on the borders of the neighbourhoods of Millbank and Pimlico, Westminster, London. The hospital closed in 1977, but several buildings remain.
George Peter Holford (1767–1839) was an English barrister, politician and author. With a short break 1806–7, he was a Tory Member of Parliament from 1803 to 1826, for a number of constituencies. Holford was an advocate of prison reform.
The Barcelona Men's Penitentiary Center, more widely known as la Model or la Modelo, is a former penitentiary center located in Barcelona, that was used as a prison until 2017. It currently serves as a memorial space, open to the public for visits.
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