Wymondham Bridewell was the local prison or

bridewell Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of correc ...

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich, England, Norwich off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The site was in use as a prison from as early as 1619. The present, grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

dates from the 1780s. It closed as a prison in 1878. Since then it has had various uses including police station and courthouse. At present the main part of the building houses the Wymondham Heritage Museum. The building was constructed in the form of a square and, in the 1820s the Governor's house was at the front, cells were either side and the treadmill was at the back, There were 22 cells and most of them were 12×7 feet. They had brick floors and contained two iron beds, some three. In 1824, the Bridewell staff included the Governor, two turnkeys and a miller and it contained two classes, two wards,

treadwheel A treadwheel, or treadmill, is a form of engine typically powered by humans. It may resemble a water wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference (treadmill), or by a human or animal standing ...

(

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), three day-rooms, two airing yards and the mill yard. After 1827 the Bridewell remained unoccupied until it was re-opened, chiefly for the incarceration of females in 1832. The average number of prisoners, in 1842, was 19. By 1853, although the Bridewell was a woman's prison, it was sometimes used to house men awaiting transfer, with even quite dangerous prisoners kept there. The conditions appear to have been quite civilised by the 1850s, as there were only nineteen inmates at the time of the 1853 report. Of the prisoners, five were under 16, five were married and 14 unmarried. The women were instructed in reading and writing by the Matron and the Chaplain holds regular services and instruction and many of the prisoners ended up taking jobs at the time of their release. The employment for the prisoners at the time included washing, ironing, mat-making, knitting, needle-work and cleaning the prison. The inmates at Wymondham were responsible for making, mending & washing the linen for Norwich Castle Prison, as well as their own and this work alone was valued at £69 9/9d that year.

References

* White's Directory of Norfolk, 1845

External links

Wymondham Heritage Museum
- official site * Map sources for *
A 1786 description
* Th
local Quaker meeting
currently worships in part of the building Grade II listed buildings in Norfolk Local museums in Norfolk Prison museums in the United Kingdom Wymondham, Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub