City and County Gaol, Coventry, Warwickshire

GAOLER, Basil Debtors Goode.

Salary, £12, now taken off.

Fees, Debtors / Felons, £0 : 15 : 4.

Transports, £8 each.

Licence, Beer.

PRISONERS,

Allowance, Debtors, none. Felons, 1lb. of bread a day.

Garnish, £0 : 2 : 0.

Number,

CHAPLAIN, none.

SURGEON, Mr. Harper.

Salary, none: he makes a bill.

REMARKS.

This gaol, built about 1772, is in a close part of the city. I was shewn a fine spot which some gentlemen very judiciousy preferred. It has eight lodging-rooms for master's-side debtors; and the common ward. Women-felons have only one room, and that without a fire-place. The men have a day-room. To their dungeons there is a descent of 12 steps to a passage only 4 feet wide: the four dungeons are about 9 feet by 6: at the upper corner of each, a little window, 11 inches by 7. All are very damp, dirty, and offensive: we went down with torches. Only one court for all prisoners. No straw: no infirmary: no bath. Rooms might be made for criminals in the area where the old county-hall stood; in which case, the horrid dungeons need not be used, and the sexes might be separated. Neither clauses against spirituous liquors, nor the act for preserving the health of prisoners, are hung up.

One of the felons, James Ward, received his majesty's pardon, on condition of his going to sea. Mr. Francis Waters, clerk of the assize, wrote in the letter which enclosed the pardon (which was dated August 25, 1781), "The secretary of state's fee is of £1 7 : 0 and my fee £1 1 : 0.Which you'll take care to receive on the back of the pardon from the officer who receives him. As no officer would take him on condition of paying this, together with 19s. 4d. the gaoler's and under-sheriff's fees, I found the poor wretch in May 1782, languishing in prison on his pound of bread a day.

Gaoler, Basil Goode. Salary, 1 20l.

Fees, Felons, none. Debtors, See Table. Transports, the expence ot conveying them.

Garnish, now abolished.

Chaplain, none; except to attend on Convicts under Sentence of Death.

Surgeon, Mr. Whitwell; who makes a Bill.

Number of Prisoners,

Allowance, to Prisoners of all descriptions, a sixpenny loaf every other day, sent in from the Baker's. Weight, at my last visit, 2lbs. 2oz.

REMARKS.

This Gaol, built in the year 1772, stands in a very close part of the Cit3y. Here is one court-yard only, of about 60 feet by 40, which is common to Debtors, Felons, and every description of Prisoners; and a day-room, called "The Den," from its being the place of general and promiscuous association. To this room the Corporation allows l½cwt. of coals in Summer, and 2cwt. in Winter, the price of which, at my visit in 1809, was 8½d. per cwt. This, surely, is but a scanty allowance, where coals are so abundant, and so cheap.

Seven lodging-rooms are provided for Master's-Side Debtors, to which the Gaoler furnishes beds, at 3s. per week; or, if two sleep together, at 2s. weekly each. Here is a common ward for poor Debtors, to whom the City allows a bedstead, with loose straw, (which is said to be changed every three weeks,) a blanket, and a rug, for which they pay six-pence a week. Women Felons have only one room.

There are two other rooms, which open into the court-yard, and were intended for Prisoners; Dut one of these I found filled with straw, and the other with the Gaoler's coals, although he has a good coal-cellar in the house.

To their horrid dimgeons, (which still remain a disgrace to the City,) there is a descent by twelve steps, to a narrow passage, 4 feet wide. The dungeons, four in number, are about 9 feet by 6, and at the top have a little grated aperture, 11 inches by 7, which admits a glimmering light from the court-yard above, just sufficient to make "darkness visible." All of them are damp, and offensive.

A Boultin of straw (long wheaten straw, about 24lbs. weight, so called) is said to be allowed to each Felon, every three weeks. The bedding consists of two rugs and two blankets; which, as well as the straw, I have always found nearly worn out, and very dirty. I was told that torches of pitch, or tar, were occasionally burnt in these dungeons, to dry and purify them; and that, now and then, they were fumigated with vinegar. When I went down to them, we always had lighted candles, to behold, what?—the discredit of a large Manufacturing Town, thus manifesting its natural apprehensions of disease, and probable infection!

The Gaoler seems to have overlooked that Clause of the 14th Geo. III. which prohibits Prisoners from being kept under ground: for, of the three men committed for bastardy, one of them, Jonathan Hobley, not having money to pay for a bed, was thrust down into a dungeon every night: while two convicted Felons, being able to pay, were indulged with the Debtors' room to sleep in.

A private passage from the Gaol conducts Prisoners into Court for trial.

This Prison might be much improved, by enclosing a small piece of ground adjacent, and turning it into a separate court for the Women Prisoners; in consequence of which the opprobrious caverns before-noticed might be happily annihilated. And, if a few old houses in Pope's-Head Alley, were pulled down and added, a new gaol might be built, or the present rendered sufficiently large for the City.

The Act for preserving Health is conspicuously hung up in the Gaol, but not the Clauses against Spirituous Liquors. The whole Prison is very dirty.

It is very satisfactory to report, that this prison, which has so long remained in a disgraceful state, will shortly be rebuilt on an improved plan. For this purpose additional premises have been purchased adjoining the present gaol, the site of which will afford a good scope for classing the prisoners, in conformity to the new Act.

The new buildings will, it is expected, be arranged on the radiating plan, so as to place the prisoners under the constant inspection of the keeper and officers.

A chaplain is appointed, who performs service on Sundays, and attends three days in the week. There is no employment for the prisoners, and no classification whatever can be observed in the present prison, which contains only one airing-yard, into which all the rooms open.

The number of commitments during the last year amounted to one hundred and fifty. The greatest number of prisoners at one time was twenty-five.