Crime and Punishment

A couple of days ago I got to see the Crime and Justice Museum in Nottingham. It is housed in the old courthouse, and it included a tour of the courtroom, as well as the prisons below.

If you think musuems are boring, dusty places, you haven't seen anything yet!

(Disclaimer: This blog contains some pictures that are rather macabre. If you have a weak stomach, or are easily disgusted, you may wish to skip over some of them.)

I got my own personal tour guide-- the sheriff of Nottingham! (Don't worry-- he assured me that he was not the evil sheriff from Robin Hood.)

This is where the judge used to sit during court. Apparently in England everyone bows when the judge comes in. I think we stand for our judges in America, don't we?

I think this wooden stand was called the dock. It was where the prisoner stood to be sentenced-- usually to death.

My prisoner number. Not quite as cool as 24601.

My crime.

(These were taken from actual historical records of criminals.)

Um, I think I'll pass, thanks.

Oh wait-- that was my sentence, wasn't it?

Drat.

The stocks.

Scold's Bridle (also known as a 'Brank' or 'Witch's Bridle'). It literally "held" the tongue of women found to be drunken, noisy, or unruly. It was also used on women accused of witchcraft, to stop her from casting spells or sleeping (it was believed that when a witch slept, she could change into the body of her 'familiar' and escape).

I want to know why women were the only ones to get this. Didn't men ever get drunk? (You would think from the number of pubs over here, that would be a fairly obvious question.)

I am SO glad I didn't live in the 1700s.

The gallows

A typical jail cell-- I think from the 1800s (don't quote me on that!)

A rope made from bedsheets, used by prisoners to escape in 2003 (not from this prison-- it's been out of commission for years).

On the left are ball and chains, used to keep prisoners from running away when they went outside. They're not used in Britain any more, although the placard claimed they are still used in the U.S. I would like to see their source for that.

On the right are jugs used to measure out food rations for prisoners, according to their behavior and the seriousness of the crime they committed.

This lace piece was created by a prisoner.

The embroidery in the center was done with human hair.

These next few pictures show different items ingested by prisoners (either to smuggle the items in, or to try to hurt themselves).

It's definitely not your typical musuem, is it?