After having the time of our lives driving around Ireland for a month, Steven and I took an early morning ferry from Dublin over to Holyhead on the northwest coast of Wales. It'd been close to 40 years since I'd visited the southern part of the country with Mary Pat, a friend I've known from kindergarten and still keep in touch with. I was looking forward to show a small part of the country to Steven as he'd never been.
We picked up another rental car at the port and drove toward Llanfairpwll, the nickname for the second longest named town in the world! Imagine having to spell that or, worse yet, writing that on endless forms your whole life.
One horrific form of punishment for serious offenders was the treadwheel located next to the well in which the prisoners on the wheel had to climb continually. By using pumps and a series of pipes, water was pumped into huge slate tanks in the prison's top floor. Water was fed into the cells from the tanks. As each cell had a toilet and sink with running water, the technology was very advanced for the period as not many Victorian buildings had running water.
Large numbers of British convicts were transported overseas, initially to the new colonies in America that were being settled. After the US War of Independence, 150,000 prisoners were sent to Australia after it was discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook.
Shackles were worn so there could be no fraternization among the prisoners.
As convicts had to wear an uniform while they were in jail, their clothes and belongings were fumigated to get rid of lice and fleas. Each prisoner was weighed on arrival and discharge to ensure the diet was adequate.
We'd kept seeing signs for a major store in the town so made sure to stop.
I was thrilled to bits when I saw the store had a huge display of Portmeirion china as I'd first started collecting a couple of pieces of the china from the British designer decades ago and it's been our 'everyday china' for years. Mary Pat from my hometown of Ottawa also loves to collect the china which was named after a small village in Wales. Unfortunately because of concerns about weight, Steven 'restricted' me to buying just one dinner plate.
Charming little Beaumaris was originally an English ‘green zone’ in the 13th century in the middle of the rebellious former kingdom of North Wales. Across from the pretty waterfront and harbor was the Isle of Anglesey.
The Beaumaris Gaol or county jail opened in 1829 because new laws were designed to give prisoners more humane treatment. In 1877, control of all prisons was transferred to the central government. As Beaumaris was one of the smaller prisons, it was closed as an economic measure and the few remaining prisoners were transferred to Caernarfon Gaol. During the two world wars, the prison housed prisoners of war before it opened as a museum of prison life in 1975.
One horrific form of punishment for serious offenders was the treadwheel located next to the well in which the prisoners on the wheel had to climb continually. By using pumps and a series of pipes, water was pumped into huge slate tanks in the prison's top floor. Water was fed into the cells from the tanks. As each cell had a toilet and sink with running water, the technology was very advanced for the period as not many Victorian buildings had running water.
Large numbers of British convicts were transported overseas, initially to the new colonies in America that were being settled. After the US War of Independence, 150,000 prisoners were sent to Australia after it was discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook.
Conditions in most early prisons were atrocious because they were used mainly for holding suspects until they were brought for trial and for debtors. That was because before the 19th century, all but the most trivial offenses were punished either by execution or transportation to a penal colony overseas.
Welsh was the language of ordinary people in Wales but when the courthouse was built near the castle in Beaumaris, English had to be spoken in all courts in the country. Government ministers at the time were trying to standardize law and government and make Wales more like England. But the issue was how justice could be conducted when so many in the judicial system understood no English and the circuit court judges generally spoke no Welsh. We read that decision caused resentment that continued for centuries.
Shackles were worn so there could be no fraternization among the prisoners.
Male inmates toiled in the Men's Workroom for twelve hours a day making mats and brushes, sewing sacks and mail bags and also oakum picking which involved unpicking pieces of old rope to reuse the fiber. Prisoners who failed to finish their work had their dinner stopped and persistent offenders were sent to the punishment cell.
The guide suggested we look on the floor to find some of the prisoners' initials and the length of their services carved into the bricks.
The Silent System operated in the early years in many gaols which meant prisoners were forbidden to communicate with other inmates. Talking could be punished by the stoppage of meals or time in solitary confinement
Grueling physical labor like the stone breaking bays was a punishment for more serious offenses and for second offenses. The gaol brought cartloads of stones from local quarries to the Breakers’ Yard that had to be broken into small stones that could pass through a small hole in the sink.
After hearing about prisoners working ten hours a day as punishment in the Breakers’ Yard breaking the stones into tiny rocks with a sledgehammer, I will never take for granted gravel or aggregate used for roads again!
The cell off the yard in the Old Wing included a flush toilet, a mattress and a table to work on.
Yikes!
Cells in the New Wing:
The Prison Chapel was an important part of the new, more humane approach to the treatment of prisoners. Although many aspects of prison life were intended to be punitive, the influence of religion was intended to bring about the moral reform of the offender. Both a chaplain and a surgeon were appointed to visit the jail regularly to verify the prisoners were well cared for in both body and soul. I was very impressed that up to 15 hours a week could be set aside for religious instruction and schooling.
Reception of new prisoners in the new wing: On arrival all prisoners were inspected by the prison doctor. There was a compulsory bath as prison reformers placed great emphasis on hygiene and cleanliness even though many prisoners would have lived in filthy and squalid conditions outside the jail.
Upstairs were more cells:
A sketch of a cell's interior:
A hammock with mattress on top could be rolled up so the prisoners could have more room in the cell during the day.
The infirmary: The old prisons had been fever dens - filthy, unsanitary places where magistrates and inspectors were afraid to visit. In the new reformed gaols, the health and welfare of prisoners was important. Beaumaris Gaol had ts own hospital where sick prisoners could be isolated, so that diseases did not spread.
The Women's Workroom: In the early years, female prisoners were brought downstairs to work in large, heated workrooms as the prison cells were unheated. They were employed at spinning, knitting, sewing and tailoring as well as cooking, cleaning and washing in other areas of the gaol.
Though we had many sights we still planned to see the rest of the day in northern Wales, the Beaumaris Gaol had been unusually interesting, especially because of its emphasis on more humane treatment of its offenders.
Next post: More of small town and rural Wales: Caernarfon Castle, Beggelert, Snowdonia National Park and Conwy at the end of the day!
Posted on March 15th aka the Ides of March, 2020, from Kochi, India, on our last night of our very much shortened trip to Asia and the Middle East as we head home to the US because of the coronoavirus. Steven and I hope each of you safely weather the tough times facing all of us ahead.
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