The entrance is through a free stone gateway, having a lodge on each side, over the arch of which is a fine bust of Howard, presented by the late Rowland Hunt, and Thomas Knight, esquires, two county magistrates. There are reception cells in the lodges for the examination of the persons by the surgeon previous to their being lodged in the different apartments; during their continuance in the prison, criminals wear a woollen jacket, waistcoat and cap, composed of blue and yellow stripes before conviction, after which the dress is changed for one of brown and yellow. All executions take place on the flat roof of the northern lodge, when all the criminals are brought into the area before the governor’s house to witness the awful scene. This house, in which is an apartment for the magistrates, faces the entrance gate, in the centre of the west front of the prison. The chapel, which is a neat octagonal structure, well calculated for the important purposes of its erection, stands in the centre of the whole building, and is so arranged that every class of prisoners is separated and hid from each other, though all may see the officiating clergyman. The prison, the boundary wall of which encloses two acres of ground, and is 16 feet high, is divided into four principal courts, besides smaller ones, and not only are the sexes separated, but each description of prisoners are subdivided, into classes, which have each their respective courts and day rooms. The debtor’s rooms are airy and comfortable, commanding many pleasing views of the adjacent country. At the eastern extremity is the infirmary, near which the under keeper resides, who has constantly for sale various articles manufactured by the prisoners, the profits of which are applied for their benefit.
Closely allied to the superior construction of the prison are the excellent and judicious regulations for its internal management, which, whilst they tend to ameliorate the condition of the unhappy sufferers, are calculated to reclaim their vicious habits; and should they return to the bosom of society, stimulate them to atone for their depredations on their fellow-creatures, by their honest and exemplary deportment in future. Prayers are read every Thursday, and a sermon preached every Sunday by the chaplain, and the justices appointed at the quarter sessions visit the different apartments of the prison when they please, and have the power of making any alteration in the mode of treating the criminals which to them may appear judicious.
Convinced that the design of punishment is to prevent the commission of crimes, and to repair the injury that has thereby been done to society or the individual, and that it is the duty of every good government to reform rather than exterminate offenders, the exertions of the late Rowland Hunt, esq. were directed to the formation of the following excellent plan, which was instituted in 1797.
First—To enable debtors to gain a livelihood while in confinement; to reward their industry and good behaviour while there; and to furnish them with some implements or materials on quitting prison, the better to support themselves and their families on their return to society.
Secondly—To encourage industry, penitence, and orderly behaviour in criminal prisoners; and to furnish with clothes and implements those who on quitting prison receive a certificate of good behaviour.
Thirdly—To provide all those who are dismissed, with a small sum for immediate maintenance, to prevent the great temptation of committing a crime for that purpose.
This praiseworthy charity, the subscriptions to which from the county at large amount to about £80 yearly; also distributes bibles and prayer books to the wretched objects of its bounty, and thus endeavours to impress on the minds of these outcasts of society, the sacred lessons of divine wisdom. The benevolent stranger will perceive in the large outer gate of the prison, two small apertures, and on the other side two boxes are affixed, into one of which he may drop his mite, “to prisoners in a state of reformation,” and in the other “to debtors in a state of industry.”
The Military Depot,
Is a very handsome brick edifice, erected by government in the year 1806, from a design by Mr. Wyatt, at an expense of about £10,000. It stands in a piece of ground near St. Giles’s Church, at the east end of the Abbeyforegate.
The principal building is 135 feet by 39, in two stories, and is capable of containing 25,000 stand of arms. Within the enclosure are two magazines for ammunition, and a small neat house at each angle for the storekeeper, armourer, and subalterns’ guard.—It was intended for the reception of the arms of the volunteer corps of Shropshire and the adjoining counties, but until lately very few arms of any description have been deposited here—in fact it has been a complete sinecure. Mr. Linton is the present governor.
The English, or East Bridge,
Called also the Stone Bridge, which connects the suburb of Abbey-foregate with the town, was finished in 1774, from a plan produced by Mr. Gwyn, at an expense of £16,000 raised by public subscription. This bridge, which is 400 feet in length, is built of Grinshill free stone, on seven semicircular arches, and crowned with a fine balustrade. The central arch is 60 feet in width, and 40 in height from the bed of the river, the two arches at the extremities being 35 feet wide and 20 high. The breadth between the balustrades is 20 feet.—On the northern front is the head of Sabrina in bas relief and the date of its erection. Its ornaments are tasteful, and it may justly be classed among the most elegant modern erections in the empire. Some persons, probably, may conceive that the elevation of the centre is too great, but when they are informed that in the memorable flood of 1795, even the great arch was not more than capacious enough to admit the torrent, they will no doubt be inclined to praise rather than censure the artist, who was actuated by a desire to blend the useful with the ornamental.