Stuart

Timeline

Law and Order

Police

The Shades

The Compter

The Hole

Gaol

Greyfriars

County Gaol

Prison

Castle Street Gaol


The gaol in Castle Street was where St Mary’s Church now stands. It started being used in the last part of the Stuart period. Prisoners were kept in chains in the underground dungeon and had to rely on friends and family to feed them. They could beg through the grating in the street. The gaoler was not paid and relied upon getting money from those people in gaol to live.
As well as those who had broken the law, the gaol also saw people imprisoned for their religious beliefs. John Bunyan was imprisoned in the gaol, while 6 Quaker prisoners died in the gaol when all the adult Quakers were imprisoned.