Buckingham Old Gaol, sometimes known as Lord Cobham’s Castle, is an historic building in

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

, the former county town of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The building is now a museum, shop and tourist information centre and is located on Market Hill in the town centre. It is a member of the

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Heritage Association and the

Association of Independent Museums The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) is an organisation that represents and supports independent museums based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1977. AIM produces the ''Aim Bulletin'', a bi-monthly magazine that is free for mem ...

History

Following an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

on 30 June 1747 (known as Lord Cobham's Act), the original

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

building was erected in 1748. The bulk of funding was from Richard Temple, fourth baronet of Stowe (1675–1749), who had been previously MP for Buckingham. It was built in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. One of the prisoners jailed here was the

prize fighter Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

Simon Byrne. He was tried at the Buckingham Assizes in 1830 for the manslaughter of another prize fighter, Alexander M'Kay. The rounded front of the building was added in 1839, designed by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

, a local architect. This provided accommodation for the gaoler and became known as the Keeper's Lodge. For around 60 years, the Old Gaol acted as the

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

for Buckingham, until a new police station was built a short distance away on Moreton Road. In 1891 it became a

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

, and the C Company of the 1st Bucks Rifles rented part of the building for their

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are most ...

from 1892 until 1926. In 1907,

public toilets A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...

were installed. In the 1950s, it became an

antiques shop An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an ant ...

and

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

. In 1974, the

Aylesbury Vale District Council Aylesbury Vale District Council was the non-metropolitan second tier authority for Aylesbury Vale in Buckinghamshire. It was responsible for housing, waste collection, council tax, local planning, licensing and cemeteries, while Buckinghamshire Co ...

took over responsibility for the building. Buckingham Heritage Trust was formed in 1985 to save the building and it opened as a museum in 1993, together with a

tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

. The Old Gaol Museum obtained finance from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

to add a glass roof over the original prisoners' exercise yard in 2000.

Museum

The museum is open to the public and tells the story of Buckingham and rural life, including the

Flora Thompson Flora Jane Thompson (née Timms; 5 December 1876 – 21 May 1947) was an English novelist and poet best known for her semi-autobiographical trilogy about the English countryside, ''Lark Rise to Candleford''. Early life and family Thompson ...

Collection (author of ''

Lark Rise to Candleford ''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were previously published s ...

'') and Buckinghamshire Military Trust exhibits. A number of the original cells form part of the museum exhibits. The Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust is based at the museum, and houses its collections there. In addition to arms, regalia, and other military memorabilia, the Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust also holds a small collection of military musical instruments, including early examples of rope-tensioned side drums.

Gallery

Image:Buckingham OldCountyGaol01.JPG, Rear view of the Old Gaol. Image:Buckingham OldCountyGaol03.JPG, Cells in the gaol. Image:Buckingham OldCountyGaol04.JPG, Cell door in the gaol.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.buckinghamoldgaol.org.uk
Visit Buckinghamshire listing

The Beautiful South information
Buckingham Prisons in Buckinghamshire Grade II* listed buildings in Buckinghamshire Local museums in Buckinghamshire Prison museums in the United Kingdom George Gilbert Scott buildings and structures Government buildings completed in 1748 Grade II* listed government buildings Museums established in 1993 Charities based in Buckinghamshire Defunct prisons in England Debtors' prisons