London Prisons: Time for Roll Call! Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who originally built the Tower of London which was subsequently used as a prison (for important prisoners) until as late as the twentieth century?

Answer: William the Conqueror

When William invaded in 1066 and made his way up to London, he was nervous about the London mobs and so built a stockaded building. He replaced this twenty years later with the White Tower (the main building that stands in the centre of the Tower of London to this day).

2. Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, was imprisoned at the Tower of London.

Answer: True

He had parachuted into Scotland on a rather unorthodox peace mission and was subsequently imprisoned in the Tower for a few days. I wonder whether the Tower might once again be used, if during a major national crisis a VIP prisoner needs to be held?

3. Ludgate prison was located on a site near to which major present-day London tourist attraction?

Answer: St. Paul's Cathedral

Ludgate was one of the gatehouses to the City of London which also served as a prison (thereby creating an extra source of income for the gatehouse keeper). There is a plaque marking the site half way down Ludgate Hill, and directly due east, looming up above you, is St Paul's Cathedral.

4. One of these London prisons held prisoners from Norman times, right up until the beginning of the twentieth century. Which one is it? (Clue: it had more than one building throughout its lifespan.)

Answer: Newgate

Newgate had four incarnations in total. The first was a gatehouse, along the lines of Ludgate. By the time the fourth Newgate was built in 1770, it was a forbidding and dreadful place, vast in size and ridden with disease.

5. The Mayor of London in 1423 was Dick Whittington and he was concerned about the state of prisons in his city. He gave a bequest for one of them to be rebuilt and as a consequence it was colloquially named after him. Which prison?

Answer: Whittington's Newgate

Whittington's Newgate was the third Newgate building and sadly, despite the good intentions, became just as awful as its predecessor. Corrupt practices flourished, for example iron fetters were applied to prisoners for a fee and then taken off again for another fee.

The gaoler had a nice cycle of income. The worst fetters were massively heavy and contorted the poor prisoner's body so that they were in agony.

6. What did Jeremy Bentham, Elizabeth Fry and John Howard have in common?

Answer: They were all concerned with prison reform

John Howard's campaigns included a protest at the discharge fee prisoners had to pay in order to be released after their incarceration (most could not pay it and consequently could not leave, despite the fact that they had served their sentence).

7. There were a number of smaller prisons called Compters. They included a Bread Street Compter and a Poultry Compter.

Answer: True

Their odd names derive from their locations near the parts of the City where Bread and Chickens respectively were traded (Bread Street and Poultry are still roads to this day). The Compters were privately ran and had terrible reputations for neglect and corruption. They usually held debtors rather than hardened criminals, but that did not mean conditions were any easier.

8. Which prison was the first in London to be designed and built as a prison? It stood in various forms from just after the Norman conquest to Victorian times and was located on the banks of a river (the river is now largely forgotten).

Answer: The Fleet

The Fleet was attacked (as were many buildings) by the Gordon rioters in the eighteenth century, but was notable in that the rioters sent a note to the Governor warning him of what was about to happen!

9. Where is the smallest London gaol?

Answer: Houses of Parliament

A single room known as the 'strong room' is located in the lower part of the clock tower and is classed as a state prison along with Scrubs and Pentonville!

10. Millbank prison, opened in 1816 and demonstrating new ideas and theories on the structures of prisons, was a storming success.

Answer: False

It was an absolute disaster. The octagonal building's corridors had so many twists and turns that even the warders had to put chalk marks on the walls in order to find their way around. Disease flourished and the atmosphere was fetid due to lack of air flow and the many damp corners within the structure.
(NB The octagonal shape of Millbank is still visible on road maps - Tate Britain occupies much of the site now.)

11. Which prison was historically used to house religous prisoners (that is, those who committed religous offences, not prisoners who liked to pray a lot!)?

Answer: The Clink

It was owned by the Bishop of Winchester and held prisoners (not just religous ones) from 1100s until 1780 when it was burnt down by the Gordon rioters. Priests, were exempted from the King's justice system ('Benefit of Clergy') and so were held in the Bishop's prison. Conditions didn't sound too bad - when the Privy Council ordered a raid in 1626, they found the door open and various priests living comfortably within, with �100 of loose change lying around!

12. Which prison was Charles Dickens' father taken to when he was imprisoned for debt?

Answer: The Marshalsea

Dickens set "Little Dorrit" in the Marshalsea and visited the prison many times. It was notorious at the time for the cruelty of its regime.

13. Some of the ships used previously to transport prisoners to the New World, were later converted into floating prisons. What were they known as?

Answer: Hulks

OK so I made up "Flonks" ... The Hulks were supposed to be an emergency measure but were themselves overcrowded. There are records that on one of them, 700 prisoners were locked up overnight in the charge of a single warder.

14. There are five large prisons in London today, four of which were built in the Victorian era. Which ones are they?

Answer: Wormwood Scrubs, Wandsworth, Pentonville, Brixton

Victorian prisons reflect the philosophy of the age ... bigger is better and grander is good. These people wouldn't know 'restrained' if it came up and introduced itself. This attitude is common at times of driving success and achievement (just look at style in the 1980s ... hardly subtle).

15. Which of London's gaols, still receiving prisoners, is the oldest?

Answer: Brixton

The design of the prison was completed in 1819 but it was not a success, so that the Prison Authorities wanted to demolish it in 1853. Obviously they did not succeed in that plan.
Brixton also has the doubtful honour of being the first English prison to work prisoners on the treadwheel.

16. One of the London prisons, designed by Sir Charles Barry, became known as the 'portal to the penal colony' meaning that prisoners sent there could hope to earn (through work and behaviour) a ticket to the penal colonies in Australia. Which one?

Answer: Pentonville

The ticket to the penal colony was a passport to a fresh start and so highly desirable. Apparently, Sir Charles Barry, who also designed our Houses of Parliament, borrowed the radial design of the prison from the penitentiary in Philadelphia, which had received much praise.

17. Holloway started receiving a particularly difficult group of prisoners from 1906. Who were they?

Answer: Suffragettes

Holloway is a women's prison. The suffragettes were an articulate group of strong minded women campagning to get women the vote. They deliberately tried to be imprisoned as they wanted to fill prisons to overflowing - on one day in 1907, 75 women were admitted to Holloway! Hunger strikes were also used. I am very grateful to these women.

18. Who built Wormwood Scrubs?

Answer: Prisoners

The builders on site were prisoners and the items used in the prison (ironmongery, carpentry etc.) were made by prisoners elsewhere in the country. This provided a triple benefit to the Prison Authorities: Firstly they had absolute control over the workforce, secondly it was cheaper than using regular craftsmen and thirdly, the prisoners learnt a trade.

19. Latchmere House was an interrogation centre and prison used by the secret service (MI5) from 1939. True or False?

Answer: True

They used the centre to hold German spies and to 'persuade' them to turn double agent. Those who refused were hanged (or in the case of one man, shot by firing range at the Tower of London). Latchmere House is now a youth detention centre.

20. Which of these is not/has never been a real London prison?

Answer: Lockhall

I made Lockhall up entirely. (On the subject of puns in names, Q19 Latchmere House, was apparently an intentional pun both because latches are obviously important in prisons, but also because MI5 wanted to 'turn' its inhabitants to the service of the British Crown.)

Source: Author Flapjack44

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Houses of Correction, penitentiaries, gaol... London has had many of these over time. Here are some historical questions about the various London correctional institutions. Enjoy!

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