Due to its role as a historic port city, Bristol has had more than its fair share of prisons over the years.
By the early 19th century at least three separate sites were in use across the city to house those awaiting trial for heinous crimes and to hold prisoners serving sentences. Currently, HMP Bristol is the sole prison in use in the city’s boundaries. The Category B prison is home to around 700 inmates.
Behind its high walls, you can find remnants of its original form, Horfield Prison which hosted more than a dozen executions - with the most recent taking place during the 1960s. Bristol’s original prisons tell a dark history and we have picked out six eerie images documenting their tales.
1. Lawford’s Gate Prison
Lawford’s Gate Prison was located at the far end of Old Market and served as the defence boundary to the City from neighbouring Gloucestershire when opened in 1791. Beyond this gate the legal system of Bristol did not apply, making it an area of lawlessness.
2. Horfield Prison
Horfield Prison captured from the air - construction of the building finished in 1883 while B and C wings were later added during the 60s. Inside its walls, 14 executions have taken place with the last occurring on 17 December 1963 when Russell Pascoe was hanged for the murder of William Rowe during a robbery. Today, the site is known as HMP Bristol.
3. New Gaol Prison
The New Gaol Prison is located on Spike Island. It opened in 1820 but was later destroyed in 1831 during the Bristol Riots. Reconstruction of the prison did not finish until 1872 but just over a decade later, in 1883, it would be closed due to poor conditions.
4. Lawford’s Gate, the whipping post
The whipping post was used to bind and punish prisoners who were deemed to have been unruly.