Horfield Prison
Horfield Prison was opened in April
1883. The site had previously been a pleasure garden – ‘a privately-owned
ground where fêtes were occasionally held’. After the Bristol Riots in 1831,
where the ‘new’ Bristol Gaol was burnt down, it was thought a new site was
needed, one which was in an area away from the city centre, where trouble was
more easily started. As the pleasure gardens had not been paying their way, the
owner decided to sell the land to the Bristol Corporation. The Corporation
bought the site for £3,875, and estimated the building scheme for the proposed
gaol at £120,000. The original prison building ‘contained two four-storey cell
blocks of a galleried design, one of which was originally a prison for women.
During the 1960’s two more cell blocks were constructed in a T-shaped design.’ Horfield Prison was among the first to be
built under the control of the Home Office and one of the last of the ‘old
prisons.’
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Conscientious Objectors at Horfield
During the First World War the Joint Advisory Committee for Conscientious Objectors wrote a public handbill complaining of the treatment received by conscientious objectors held at Horfield Prison. The main complaints of the handbill regarded the solitary confinement of conscientious objectors in narrow cells, their diet of bread and water, their forcible clothing in khaki, the removal of bibles found in the possession of any objector, and the refusal to allow them to see, or communicate with, friends or relatives. The handbill was published after an enquiry into the complaint was made, and the Committee acknowledged an improvement in conditions at Horfield. However, the refusal of local newspapers to publish the Committees responses to the findings of the enquiry, prompted the publication of this handbill, in order to enlighten the public to the inhumane treatment of conscientious objectors throughout the country. A copy of the original handbill can be seen below.
During the First World War the Joint Advisory Committee for Conscientious Objectors wrote a public handbill complaining of the treatment received by conscientious objectors held at Horfield Prison. The main complaints of the handbill regarded the solitary confinement of conscientious objectors in narrow cells, their diet of bread and water, their forcible clothing in khaki, the removal of bibles found in the possession of any objector, and the refusal to allow them to see, or communicate with, friends or relatives. The handbill was published after an enquiry into the complaint was made, and the Committee acknowledged an improvement in conditions at Horfield. However, the refusal of local newspapers to publish the Committees responses to the findings of the enquiry, prompted the publication of this handbill, in order to enlighten the public to the inhumane treatment of conscientious objectors throughout the country. A copy of the original handbill can be seen below.