The Anonymous Widower

Anyone for a Cold Bath?

I’ve not had a bath in some months, as these days I have a shower, when I smell like I need one.  But this curious sign was on the wall of a building in Clerkenwell.

Coldbath Square

It must be surely one of the strangest road names in the UK, let alone London.  You can read about the area here.

For many years there was a grim prison on the site and this is taken from the article.

The prison, built on a plan of the benevolent Howard’s, soon became a scene of great abuses. Men, women, and boys were herded together in this chief county prison, and smoking and drinking were permitted. The governor of the day strove vigorously to reform the hydra abuses, and especially the tyranny and greediness of the turnkeys. Five years later he introduced stern silence into his domain. “On the 29th of December, 1834, a population of 914 prisoners were suddenly apprised that all intercommunication, by word, gesture, or sign, was prohibited.” “This is what is called the Silent Associated System. The treadmill had been introduced at Coldbath Fields several years before. This apparatus, the invention of Mr. Cubitt, an engineer at Lowestoft, was first set up,” says Mr. Pinks, “at Brixton Prison, in 1817. At first, the allowance was 12,000 feet of ascent, but was soon reduced to 1,200.”

I think it is true to say that our justice system is much more enlightened these days.

January 22, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | History, London, Prison