Case study: Pentonville Prison in the mid nineteenth century 

The ‘separate system’ 

  1. Pentonville Prison was built as a prototype (test version) of the ‘separate system’.  

  1. Under the separate system, prisoners were kept apart as much as possible. They lived in separate cells and stayed there for up to 23 hours a day.  

  1. There were a number of reasons this was thought to be a good idea:  

  1. give prisoners a chance to reform through religious faith and self-reflection 

  1. ensure prisoners were not influenced by others 

  1. deter people from committing crimes because of the seriousness of the punishment 

  1. ensure retribution by making prisoners ‘pay’ for their crimes 

 

The building 

  1. The building had five wings with a base for staff in the central area 

  1. Each wing was made up of dozens of individual cells.  

  1. Altogether the prison could accommodate 520 prisoners.  

  1. The cells had a floor area of 4m by 2m. There was a small window with thick glass and iron bars.  

  1. The cells featured up to date technology like a mechanical ventilation system and piped water to each cell.  

 

The living conditions 

  1. The building’s walls were thick to stop communication between cells 

  1. Prisoners mostly worked alone in their cells, doing tasks like oakum picking (unravelling and cleaning old rope). 

  1. They were allowed out for short periods of exercise or to go to chapel, but would wear face masks while exercising and sat in individual cubicles in chapel, to prevent communication between them.  

  1. There were high rates of depression, psychosis and suicide.  

  1. Campaigners like Elizabeth Fry were critical of the conditions in Pentonville.  

 

Increasingly harsh punishments 

  1. In the second half of the 19th century, despite the work of prison reformers, the regime at Pentonville and other prisons around the country became harsher. 

  1. The aim of the 1865 Prisons Act was to enforce a strict, uniform regime in all prisons.  

  1. The Assistant Director of Prisons, Sir Edmund Du Cane, declared prisoners would get ‘hard labour, hard fare and hard board’.  

  1. Hard labour meant physically demanding work for up to 12 hours every day.  

  1. Hard fare meant a boring and bland diet 

  1. Hard board meant wooden board beds rather than hammocks.