Separation and Silence: HMP Wandsworth
A new exhibition on the history of HMP Wandworth opens at the Wandsworth Museum this Friday, commemorating the 160th anniversary of the former Surrey House of Correction.
Now an imposing and grim Victorian edifice, in 1851 the gaol was the acme of modern theory on incarceration and rehibilitation, incorporating the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and other deep thinkers on such matters. The name of the exhibition is a good summary: Separation and Silence. Victorians viewed criminality as a kind of illness that could be cured in the same was as disease, that is to say isolating patients/prisoners from infection, first and foremost. Hence prisons were built that accommodated prisoners one to a cell with no interaction with other human beings – apart from warders – whatsoever. And these are the gaols that are so familiar to us today through TV programmes such as Porridge and countless crime dramas.
The exhibition tells us all about the history of HMP Wandsworth – mostly grim but deeply interesting – yet also features photography, artwork and needlework by currently serving prisoners. Without being in any way patronising, these are all of astoundingly high quality: there’s talent behind them bars. So there is an upbeat side to the show as well.
The most engaging part of the show is inevitably celebrity (Oscar Wilde, Ronald Biggs) and capital punishment (John Amery, William Joyce, Derek Bentley). HMP Wandworth had a working gallows right up until 1993. Although capital punishment was generally abolished in 1965, there were still capital crimes on the statute books that recently (treason, piracy with violence etc.). The most macabre exhibit is an execution box, which contained the tools of the trade that despatchers such as Albert Pierrepoint used. See the image below.
This show is an excellent peek behind the walls of Victorian prisons, so many of which are still with us today.
Separation and Silence opens on 16 September and runs until 31 December. Entry is £4. More information from the Wandsworth Museum web site.
Excellent, looking forward to going to this.
I’m reading an excellent book, on and off, called ‘Five Years Penal Servitude’ by ‘One Who Has Endured it’
An anonymously written book, penned in the nineteenth century (I forget which year, but I think its the 1860’s or 70’s) in which the writer details his experiences in gaol, from the checking in process to the ‘ticket of leave’ part at the end.
An excellent insight into being in a Victorian prison.
Checkout The Spear singing his track “Wandswoth Jail” at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGS9pSz-GoE&feature=related
My grandfather, Edward Henry Whittle, was first a warder and then a ‘steward’ )a mixture of welfare officer and accountant) at HMP Wandsworth in the early 20th c. He lived with his wife and children in a village created for the staff, which had its own pub. My mother as a child used to throw balls against the walls and sometimes the balls would fly over the wall and be returned by a prisoner.
Thanks Margaret. The curator of Wandsworth Prison Museum (which will reopen sometime this year), would be interested to hear about that. He’s a member of London Historians so I’ll pass that on.