Date/Time
Date(s) - 11 March 2025
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Price
£7.00
Location
The Leconfield Hall
Categories
THE PETWORTH HOUSE OF CORRECTION
Tuesday 11th March Leconfield Hall 7 p.m. Doors open 6.30 pm
Admission Charge £5 for members £7 for non members. Prior booking not required Refreshments available.
All those living in Petworth are aware of how Petworth House physically dominates and determines the physical layout of the small market town. What is less well known is how for nearly 100 years there was another building complex which also dominated the Town – running all along the south side of Rosemary Lane – the Petworth House of Correction.
The notorious Petworth House of Correction, also known as Petworth Gaol, was opened in 1788 to deliver hard labour and solitary confinement to, mostly petty, criminals, vagrants and to fathers of illegitimate children who did not make maintenance payments. Vagrancy being the most common. It closed nearly a 100 years later.
The main punishment, was the ‘tread wheel’ The wheel served no purpose other than punishment. Treading the wheel was similar to climbing a flight of stairs. The inmates had to do 48 steps per minute which meant 11,340 feet, or just over 2 miles per day.
A Mr. Mance, in 1826 became Governor. With a harsh reputation he was also very religious and he believed it was his religious duty to stop prisoners reoffending and that he was performing God’s work.
This fully illustrated talk by Tony Sneller, will explore why the institution was established, its construction, the regime there, how its use changed over the years and its closure.
Tony is a well known local figure and a trustee of the Coultershaw Heritage Trust and a former lecturer in Social Policy & Criminology at the University of Brighton.
Bookings
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