Coldbath Fields Prison
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Coldbath Fields Prison (later also known as Clerkenwell Gaol) was a prison in the Clerkenwell areas of the City of London, originally built during the reign of King James I. It took its name from its historic location in fields near an important well or medicinal spring. The prison was rebuilt in 1794 and extended in 1850.
Coldbath Fields Prison was originally the Middlesex House of Correction: a prison run by local magistrates and where most prisoners served short sentences. Until 1850, the prison housed men, women and children; thereafter it was restricted to adult male offenders over the age of 17. Despite its aspirations to be a more humanitarian prison (it was designed by John Howard), it became notorious for its strict regime of silence and its use of the treadmill.
During the early 19th century, the prison temporarily housed members of the Cato Street Conspiracy, and in 1868 its exercise yard was the target of a gunpowder explosion instigated by members of the Fenian Society - the blast killed bystanders in Corporation Row; some of those responsible were executed, with ringleader Michael Barrett the last person to be publicly executed outside Newgate Prison. Coldbath Fields also served as a debtor's prison.
The prison closed in 1885. The site was transferred to the Post Office in 1889 and its buildings were gradually replaced. The last sections were demolished in 1929 for an extension of the Letter Office. Today, the site is occupied by the Mount Pleasant sorting office.
