Time Team

Jailhouse Rocks - Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria

The police in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, know that their station dates back to the first gaol built on the site in the 1770s. They also know that two subsequent prisons, from the 1820s and the 1870s, also stood on the site. They invite Time Team to see what remains of the former prisons underneath their car park. Trench 1 finds the remains of the room where the 1870s prison's treadwheel was, trench 2 finds the remains of the 1770s cell block, which has its own story to tell. Trench 3 discovers the women's prison of the 1820s (previously prisoners were not segregated by sex), which had an underfloor heating system. One archaeologist volunteers to become a Victorian-era prisoner for 24 hours, put to hard labour breaking rocks, turning a crank handle to no purpose, and moving dirt from one pile to another. Finds include part of a warder's uniform and hobnail boots, and a bar from a prison window. Carenza acts as historian for this episode.