More ghostly sightings in the debtor's prison

The Debtors Prison

1701AD - 1705AD

York Castle has a long history as a place where justice and punishment are dispensed. At the turn of the 18th century, its facilities were brought right up to date with a major new prison building, described by Daniel Defoe as ‘the most stately and complete of any in the kingdom, if not in Europe’.

The prison was designed to be ‘an instigator of virtue’, a wholly new concept.

It became known as the Debtors’ Prison after some of its inmates but it also housed some of Yorkshire’s most notorious criminals, such as Dick Turpin.

The architect was possibly William Wakefield; a trained lawyer rather than a professional architect. A native of Yorkshire, Wakefield is known to have designed Duncombe Park and Gilling Castle.

The finished building was a handsome example of English Baroque architecture; built to reflect county pride. It was also modern and functional, with separate areas for men and women. The debtors, people imprisoned because they owed money, were also housed in a different area to the other criminals.

There is a tower which has a clock with a single hand, installed in 1716 by John Terry a York clockmaker.

The prison institution expanded later in the same century when the Female Prison was built and again in the 19th century when a Victorian Prison was built on the site.

Text courtesy of History of York