RootsChat.Com

Hi.  The House of Detention is situated in Clerkenwell Close and is a very small entrance in brick wall.  The prison is only actually underground - from what I gather there were 3 floors and all were knocked down and a school is now above the prison - Hugh Myddleton School.   My sisters and I visited this place some years ago and it was most unnerving - part of the underground prison was still not excavated as they had run out of  money to do any more so it just had a gate across the passageway - to think that it was untouched for so many years and you could put your hand through the grill to touch old bricks etc.  There were also old record books in the office upstairs that you could look through - some of the stories were horrifying.  A simple case of someone walking down the road with a horse and because they could not prove it was theirs, they were imprisoned until they could.  Children were also imprisoned here - some very young, and some were even deported.  After watching the programme the other night I was going to see if it had been re-opened as we heard it had closed down through lack of money - anyone know any more about this please?  If anyone needs photos of outside I could get them as my family still live nearby.