Take the tube to London Bridge to visit the Clink prison – one of many in the metropolis of course, but this is the one that gives us the slang term ‘the Clink’ for any prison. It also gives its name to the Street - find it at 1 Clink Street. In the winter – October to May, It is open from 10am until 6pm and from June to September from 10am until 9 pm. Admission £5 and £3.50 for concessions. £12 will buy you a family ticket.
This is not a place for the squeamish – it is small, self contained and grisly- there are all the torture machines, the fetters and chains, and, if it has been raining, the smells. There are waxworks and interactive exhibits to give even the most placid of you a squeamish shudder. In earlier times cells were just used to hold prisoners awaiting trial. Only gradually did captivity come to be seen as a punishment in itself. One of the earliest real prisons in the country and used from the 12th until the18th century thieves, prostitutes, debtors and all the rest rotted out their sentences here in a conspicuous loss of comfort – nowadays prisoners protest because they are released early! Despite its obvious inadequacies the prison only closed after a severe fire in 1780.
For a reason I cannot quite figure you can also hire the prison for corporate events and parties. If you’ve got time visit nearby Southwark Cathedral – a Gothic triumph – not so many tourists and umbrella wielding guides as Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s, but well worth a visit nevertheless. It even has a sight of a Roman road as well as bits of the Anglo Saxon foundation.
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