Capital Chokey

For centuries, London’s prisons were not just places of punishment. They were holding places: somewhere to keep the accused until trial, sentencing or transportation.

From 1188 to 1904, London residents lived under the intimidating presence of Newgate Prison. Professor Tim Hitchcock, historian of the eighteenth century, will take us inside the dark world of this notorious 'gateway to the gallows' — a holding pen for the condemned. It is said that between 1790 and 1902, over one thousand people were put to death there alone, and for centuries it was one of the most feared places in the city, where crime, poverty, punishment and everyday life intersected.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, something changed. Imprisonment itself became a punishment, and the prison began to assume the form we recognise today. Dr Kiran Mehta, historian of criminal law and punishment, examines how imprisonment changed and tells the fascinating story of the emergence of the modern penal system. She explores how changing ideas about discipline, reform and labour transformed London’s prisons — and asks what prisons were actually supposed to achieve.

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Professor Tim Hitchcock is Emeritus Professor of Digital History at the University of Sussex. His work focuses particularly on the history of sexuality and poverty in eighteenth-century London. He has helped create some of the most important digital resources for exploring London’s past, including Old Bailey Online, London Lives and the Digital Panopticon.

Dr Kiran Mehta is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in History at the University of Leicester. She specialises in criminal law, punishment and incarceration in Britain and the British Empire. Her 2025 book To Detain or To Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750–1840 examines the transformation of London’s prison system.

Our home, THE HORSE HOSPITAL, is a unique Grade II listed not-for-profit,, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London.

Built in 1797 by James Burton, the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has five cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.

There will be a bar to purchase drinks

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