Opening
Come the mid 19th century there were repeated complaints by visiting justices, who remarked that the Warwick gaol on Barrack Street, and the Bridewell were unfit for purpose, suffering from poor conditions and overcrowding. Many sites were considered, but by the summer of 1859 the buildings for the Cape Road prison were finished, and it opened in 1860 with the prisoners transported there in leg irons.
Incarceration
The regulations in 1865 state that prisoners were allowed to write and receive a letter once every three months, further letters would not be given to the prisoner. One Charles Randall wrote to a ‘Miss Knight’:
I beg leave to say that I am very sorry for the deed that I did and I hope you will please to look over in light it was in the state of drink that I did it it is the first time that I ever tried to do anybody an injury and I hope that I never should do the like again. (CR4513/4)
Charles Randall of Alveston, aged 19 years, appears in the Calendars of Prisoners (QS26/2/bundle 7), accused of malicious damage. His case was heard at the Quarter Sessions on 17 October 1865, where he was sentenced to 6 months hard labour in gaol. Further investigation into the court deposition (reference QS 30/1865/Michaelmas) recounts how Charles was accused and brought to justice following the destruction of his employer’s (Charlotte Knight) garden – footprints in the garden aligned to Randall’s boots, providing the evidence for his being the culprit.
Memories of the prison
J. Mancini helped with the demolition of the prison, and also recounted memories of visiting the building when in use (Z668(SM))
The Prison was used for the purpose of confining Conscientious Objectors, and also for “Uncontrollable Girls.” This I remember quite well, because being in a ‘Dance Band’ we were engaged to play for those inmates, on two or three occasions. It was a laugh, when the ‘Matron in Charge’ passed the remark “Watch yourself boys, these girls will stop at nothing”!!
Closure
On 23rd May 1916, the Home Office notified the prison that it would close during the war (see QS24/613) “and thereby render the staff at present employed there available either for enlistment in the Army or for fulfilling vacancies at other prisons caused by enlistment.” Concerns were raised that with depleted manpower, it would not be wise to march the prisoners through Birmingham to Winson Green, where they would now be housed. It was resolved that prisoners would thus be transported from Snow Hill by taxi. The building was put up for sale in January 1933, with a subsequent sale for the fixtures and fittings taking place between 28th-30th September of that year. Most of the buildings were demolished in 1934, and the houses of Hanworth Road and Landor Road lie within the site. The Governor’s House still survives, and was converted into a pub of that name, where landlord Leslie Rose moved from the Stag and Oak down the road, and claimed to be the only man ever to have held a license to serve drinks in a prison. The building is now general offices.
Postscript
I was talking to a gentleman who recounted a tale of an elderly lady he knew remembering the prisoners being led up Cape Road in chains. The fleeting glimpse into times past led to me wanting more, so does anybody else have any information or memories of its time either as prison or pub?
All references within this piece refer to documents that can be found at Warwickshire County Record Office. The information about Charles Randall is from the catalogue entry.
Comments
My grandmother (born 1901) was a psychiatric nurse, and she told me that, at one time, she had to look after “naughty girls” at Warwick prison. I think this would have been in the early 1920s, after the prison formally closed. I would love to know more about these “uncontrollable girls”, and how they were treated. Does anyone know?
The latest issue of the AHN (Alcester Heritage Network) newsletter contains information on Charles Moore of The Moors Alcester – a frequent ‘guest’ at Warwick and Worcester prisons.
We are currently researching the area known as The Moors in Alcester and any further information will be gratefully received.
For a copy or subscription the AHN newsletter (free), please email us.
Looking at the photo of the Cape Road Prison, I’m struck by the alarming similarity that the complex has with the Alcester Workhouse complex …………
Hi Joy,
I had a little Google and yes, I can see what you mean about the style of some of the buildings! It looks an interesting site actually. Worthy of a future article maybe?
Hi
Not sure if anyone is still monitoring this page but I am the current owner and we are nearing completion of the conversion of the building into eight apartments. I am fascinated by its history and would love to find out more from anyone? Please contact me through the site. thanks!
Hi Craig,
What I’d suggest doing is visiting the Warwickshire County Record Office. Here’s their page about visiting ( identification showing your name, printed address and signature – a driving licence is ideal – if you haven’t been before), and here’s a link to their catalogue. Not everything they have is on there however, so it’s worth checking their paper indexes and catalogues.
Craig, I own the coach house, just along from the Governor’s House. I’d recommend a trip to the record office and read ‘Warwick prison of today’ by David Watson which details a tour of the prison in 1905. The book can be ordered into Warwick library to read there as well.
The governor at the time was Captain D’Eath. If you fancy meeting up, we can compare notes/buildings. I’ll drop my card into the guys on site. We’re about to do some refurb as well, but nothing as extensive as yours!!
Captain D’Eath is such a perfect name for a Prison Governer, that I’ve been hoping for ages somebody would be motivated to find out a little about his life and share it.
Still hoping… if anybody’s out there who’d like to.
We recently moved out of a house on Hanworth Road that we had been renting for around 15 months that we are convinced was haunted – to the point of us having to call in a vicar to bless the place! We had no prior knowledge that the houses has been built on the old Warwick Prison site and only found this out after we started to feel very uncomfortable after moving and experienced a number of unusual and ghostly goings-on. Now we’re settled in a very happy home the other side of town, I’m curious to know whether anyone else living on the old prison site has had similar experiences and whether our experiences were related to the prison or were specific to the house we rented. We keep meaning to go to the CRO to compare the prison site map with the house location!
In the 1861 census, it shows my great-great-grandfather, along with his wife and one of his children. I am doubting that they accommodated families there, so does anyone have a guess at why they would be listed there?
Louise, I realise your comment was over two years ago but I currently live in Hanworth Road and can shed a little light on your experiences. The houses were not just built on the site on the prison but out of the actual bricks the prison was originally constructed. We have had some minor experiences in our home of the paranormal sort and I have had it explained to me by a paranormal expert that it’s possible that the bricks have harboured/maintained some of the energies from the occupants at the prison; resulting in ‘non intelligent’ hauntings – basic replaying of events with little or no interaction with current occupants or goings on. E.g; a shadow or ghost moving across the same room over and over, not taking any notice of anything else, causing harm or even being aware that they are there. It’s like a video tape being played over and over.
I haven’t found our ‘spirits’ (whatever they are) to be negative at all and was encouraged to speak directly to them if I felt they were becoming a problem. I have at times spoken out loud to tell them to stop or that I don’t mind them being here, and it’s never been a problem! I probably sound like i’ve read too many ghost stories – but after seeing your comment, I couldn’t help but reply and tell you that you weren’t going mad!
Interested – did your encounters with the priests work? What sort of encounters with spirits did you have? Looking at maps of the prison, Hanworth Road was in the grounds of the prison – although gallows, graveyard etc….were never properly marked on maps or aerial photography and all the graves were exhumed and moved to Coventry so it’s hard to tell what may have been on the ground Hanworth Road now sits.
I am James, Louise’s husband.
The outcome from the visit was that the activity died down a lot (almost all) and the house became a nicer place to be, until such a time as we started the motions for moving out to where we are now.
At that point, odd things started happening again (doors opening on their own, stomping footsteps from upstairs when all concerned were safely in bed, etc…).
It’s tempting to do a survey of the whole Hanworth/Landor Road area! I bet a lot more activity goes on than is reported.
The existing aerial photograph is very helpful and the house we were in lies on a patch of grass with a the main wall at it’s edge, so not on the site of a building. What was on/in that grass…..who knows?!
I remember the Governor’s House when I used to visit my Aunt Vera who lived in Cape Road.. Her house was next to a shop on the corner of Cape Road and Hanworth road. This was in the late 1940s early 1950s and I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time. The Governor’s was a forbidding building and was a pub at the time. Further down Cape Road leading to the railway track, it was just fields and I remember my Mum saying that during the Second World War ( or maybe a little after) some children playing in the field were killed when they found an unexploded bomb. I hope my memory has not played tricks with me and perhaps someone could confirm or correct me on that. During a visit to Warwick (my home town incidentally) some years ago I was surprised to see (although I shouldn’t have been) that the field had been developed. Not only that, further down Cape Road and opposite the field there was a pub called The Wedgnock, which was on the corner of Miller Lane. It had been been given a name change when I visited the area some years ago but I can’t remember what it was. You can’t stop change but I could go on reminiscing but I’d better not!
Just read your very interesting comment James, I too used to live in Warwick I left in 1972, I used to live on lower cape, I can remember the shop you are talking about , I used to do a paper round from there, I can remember the governor’s, my dad used to drink there, I can remember the wedgenock pub and there was another shop up the road , we used to call it kips, like yourself , I could go on forever, I now live in Derbyshire, and I have visited Warwick a few times. Happy days 😊
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