| Old Bailey Street | |||||||
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 View into Old Bailey Street, looking south. | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 奧卑利街 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 奥卑利街 | ||||||
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Old Bailey Street is located in Central,Hong Kong. The name is derived from the Old Bailey,the Central Criminal Court in central London,United Kingdom. [1]
Old Bailey Street runs downhill from Caine Road in the south to Hollywood Road in the north. Along the way,it has junctions with Chancery Lane (贊善里) and Staunton Street.
Victoria Gaol (later Victoria Prison),the first prison in Hong Kong,was built in 1841. As the population in Hong Kong grew,a larger prison was needed and in 1925 construction began in Stanley. Later that year,a new prison opened as Stanley Prison where those sentenced to more than a year in detention were sent.
Old Bailey Street was built after the completion of the Victoria Gaol. It connected Hollywood Road right to the entrance of the prison. The road used to be called "the long slope" by locals. One possible reason is that after serving their prison term,the inmates emerged from the gate at Old Bailey Street and led new lives,hence "the long slope". [2]
During the early colonisation of Hong Kong,prisoners in Victoria Prison were forced to parade in public,were often beaten with a cane,and their arms locked with a cangue on which their name and crimes-committed were penned. Policemen,often of Indian descent,would walk the prisoners to a plaza in front of the Man Mo Temple where the lawbreakers were scoffed and condemned by the passers-by. After a few hours,the criminal was returned to the Old Bailey Street jail. This form of punishment was abolished after World War I.
The Government Central School for Girls (later named Belilios Public School) was founded in 1890. Located at No. 16 Hollywood Road,which was then on the corner of Old Bailey Street and Hollywood Road,the school aimed to give 'an ordinary middle-class English education' to the daughters of Chinese,European and Indian residents of Hong Kong. [3]
In the afternoon of 15 December 1941,during the Battle of Hong Kong,a stick Japanese bombs hit the junction of Old Bailey Street and Caine Road,the junction of Pottinger Street and Hollywood Road,Wellington Street and the Central Police Station. [4] The bombing was part of a systematic bombardment of the Hong Kong Island's north shore that was launched on that day. [5]
The Nanhua Ribao (南華日報) reported on July 20,1942 that a handcart had slipped downward along the steep Old Bailey Street the day before,and had bumped into a rickshaw,injuring the puller. [6]
In the mid-1990s the character of Old Bailey Street began to change,as new bars and restaurants moved onto the street in concert with the emergence of the SoHo entertainment district. [7]
Comparatively high rents for commercial space [8] and very high property prices against worldwide benchmarks [9] have been reported in the 2000s and 2010s in Old Bailey Street.
The old Victoria Prison still stands on Old Bailey Street,but is no longer in use. It was closed in December 2005 and the Hong Kong Government,after a consultation period,has converted both the Prison,the old Central Police Station (which is at the intersection of Old Bailey Street and Hollywood Road) and the Former Central Magistracy into the Tai Kwun centre,which opened to the public on 29 May 2018.
The Old Bailey Street Police Married Quarters,at 17A Old Bailey Street,was completed in 1986. It includes one 24-storey block with six flats on each floor. [10] The compound has been fortified with razor wire since the 2019–20 pro-democracy protests.
No. 20 Hollywood Road is a building located at the corner of Hollywood Road and Old Bailey Street. The lease on this landed property commenced in 1844,making it one of the earliest lots to be sold in Hong Kong. The current building was built in 1953. It is a four-storey building with Art Deco influences,that has been used for commercial use over the years. [11] It is listed as a Grade III historic building. [12]
Due to the steepness of the slope of the street,the sidewalks on both side feature a total of 74 stairs. [13]
PMQ is the historic site of the old Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters,which is now a mixed-use arts and design venue in Hong Kong,between Aberdeen Street,Staunton Street,Hollywood Road,and Shing Wong Street.
Ladder streets are narrow streets in Hong Kong comprising steps. Most are found between Central and Sheung Wan and Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island,from Queen's Road Central,through Hollywood Road and a few other cross streets,to Caine Road at the Mid-Levels. Other ladder streets exist outside of the immediate Mid-Levels area,such as Sands Street in Kennedy Town.
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong,located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island,between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively,it is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District,or Gateway District.
The former Central Police Station of Hong Kong,located at the eastern end of Hollywood Road,in Central,Hong Kong has been redeveloped into a cultural and shopping destination generally called Tai Kwun (大館). Tai Kwun is composed of three declared monuments:the former Central Police Station,former Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison.
Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan,on Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. The street runs between Central and Sheung Wan,with Wyndham Street,Arbuthnot Road,Ladder Street,Upper Lascar Row,and Old Bailey Street in the vicinity.
Elgin Street is located in Central,Hong Kong. It was named after James Bruce,8th Earl of Elgin. It was also one of the earliest streets in Hong Kong.
Ladder Street is a street in Sheung Wan,Hong Kong,consisting entirely of stone steps.
Pottinger Street is a street in Central,Hong Kong. It is also known as the Stone Slabs Street since the street is paved unevenly by granite stone steps. It was named in 1858 after Henry Pottinger,the first Governor of Hong Kong,serving from 1843 to 1844. It is a Grade I historic building.
Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels,Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west,and Arbuthnot Road,Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east.
Wellington Street is a one-way street located in Central and Sheung Wan,Hong Kong. Named after Arthur Wellesley,1st Duke of Wellington,it stretches from Wyndham Street to Queen's Road Central. The two sides of street is a mosaic of old and new buildings. Varieties of trades can be found on the street level. Street markets can be found in the adjacent lanes.
Kennedy Road is a road in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. It is named after Arthur Kennedy,the seventh governor of Hong Kong.
Cochrane Street is a hilly street between Queen's Road Central and the junction with Gage Street and Lyndhurst Terrace in Central,Hong Kong. The whole street hosts the Central–Mid-Levels escalators.
Aberdeen Street is a border street dividing Sheung Wan and Central on Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong. It ascends from Queen's Road Central to Caine Road in Mid-Levels. The street is named after George Hamilton-Gordon,4th Earl of Aberdeen,Foreign Secretary at the time of the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom in 1842.
Victoria Prison,was the first and longest-running prison to date in Hong Kong. It is located on Old Bailey Street in Central,Hong Kong Island. Named in honour of Queen Victoria,it was originally known as Victoria Gaol and was renamed into Victoria Prison in 1899. Victoria Prison has been redeveloped into a cultural and shopping destination generally called Tai Kwun (大館). Tai Kwun is composed of three declared monuments:the former Central Police Station,former Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison.
Shing Wong Street is a street on the hill slope of Sheung Wan and Mid-Levels,Hong Kong. The street extends from Gough Street at its lowest to Caine Road highest. The street is one of ladder streets in Hong Kong,made of stone steps,in the section between Hollywood Road and Caine Road.
Tai Ping Shan Street is a street marking the early colonial history in Hong Kong. Located at the north slope of Victoria Peak in Sheung Wan,the street starts east from a ladder street at the junction with Bridges Street and end west in Po Yan Street near Tung Wah Hospital. The street runs parallel to Hollywood Road.
Upper Albert Road is a road on the Government Hill in the Central area of Hong Kong.
Shelley Street is a street in Central,Hong Kong. It is a ladder street and the Central–Mid-Levels escalators run along the entire length of the street.
Tai Kwun,or the Former Central Police Station Compound includes three declared monuments in Central,Hong Kong:the former Central Police Station,the Former Central Magistracy,and the Victoria Prison. Surrounded by Hollywood Road,Arbuthnot Road,Chancery Lane and Old Bailey Street,the compound underwent a heritage revitalisation and reopened to the public on 29 May 2018 as "Tai Kwun",a centre for heritage and arts.
Considered for decades as just another Central backstreet, Old Bailey Street enjoyed a renaissance in the mid-1990s, along with other dingy backstreets nearby. Now included in the burgeoning SoHo scene, the street is home to colourful bars and restaurants as well as a few often-overlooked reminders of Hong Kong's past, such as the prison.
Coordinates: 22°16′52.49″N114°09′12.51″E / 22.2812472°N 114.1534750°E
