Research on the New Bailey Prison

 

Research on the New Bailey where Esther gets taken.

Starting being built on the 22^nd May 1787, the first stone laid by Thomas Butterworth Bayley after who the person was named. The prison had an octagonal design with four radiating arms.

Article in the Manchester Guardian in July 1868 said of the prison ‘The cells of the goal of 1787… were originally almost devoid of fittings,… ventilated by an oval opening some height above the door, and are closed by a thick wooden door which is again secured by another door, a foot or two beyond it, made of cross bars of iron. The end of the wing is closed by a massive wooden door, which swings upon its centre, and is secured on both sides.’ As the population increased the prison was found inadequate, and extensions were made at various times, and principally in 1816. The original plan was entirely departed from, and the building on 1787 remains almost a detached building.

Manchester History Net, ‘The New Bailey Prison’, [n.d.], accessed 14 August 2022.