We believe that the Medieval and Tudor times were very brutal with thousands of executions
taking place across England.
Henry VIII executed 70,000 people during his almost 4 decade long reign on the throne,
but many criminals found themselves in a number of different prisons across the Kingdom.
Many of these were very brutal, and overcrowded with a significant amount of disease and illness
spreading behind bars.
One of the most brutal prisons across England was The Clink, which gave its name to a slang
term for prison, as in being locked in the clink.
But what was the clink, and why was it so tough and harsh?
The Clink was a prison in Southwark in London, and it operated from the 12th century until
the 18th century.
The prison operated inside of the Liberty of the Clink, an area which was on the south
bank of the River Thames which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester.
In this area, it became known for being a seedy area of the capital, and it was a place
where much illicit activity took place.
Prostitutes would work inside of the Stewhouses or brothels in this area, and many men would
travel across the river to gamble and then enjoy the liberty of the clink.
The women who worked in the area were known as Winchester Geese, and there was also bull
and bear baiting inside of the liberty.
Theatres and playhouses were also allowed in the area, and the most famous was the Globe
where Shakespeare’s plays would be performed.
The prison served the liberty of the clink, and the Bishop kept all the revenue in the
area made from the liberty, and also he could put many people in prison for failing to make
payments.
The Bishop would also imprison heretics, and today the Clink Prison museum stands where
part of the prison once was, next to Winchester Palace the former Bishops’ residence.
The prison was owned by the Bishop since the year 860, and at the time it was only a small
cell inside of a priests college.
But as time went on the Clink was expanded, and a formal prison was created in the 12th
century.
The prison was a number of structures within the mansion area of the Bishop of Winchester’s
land, and he placed many local criminals on trial with them being held inside of the clink.
Some prisoners were held with higher status, and they were looked after by Jailers.
They were poorly paid and they found other ways to make money, and through this jailers
were paid by prisoners to make their stay behind bars better.
The jailers managed to hire out rooms, beds, bedding and food and drink as extra to prisoners
who could afford it, they even accepted payment to loosen the iron chains that prisoners were
held in.
Some prisoners were even allowed to go outside of the prison to beg and to work if they were
allowed.
But if you were very poor, it was very tough for you inside of the clink.
You’d get the worst treatment, and the worst food.
Poor prisoners had to beg at the air grates that led to the street, and many sold whatever
they had to make their ordeal better.
When a group of rioters in 1450 protested the Statute of Labourers, Winchester House
was raided and they murdered clerics and then also released all of the prisoners from the
Clink before it was burned down.
This rebellion was later put down and the clink prison was rebuilt.
But it was during the Tudor Period that the Clink became one of the most feared places
of imprisonment.
Many people who were found accused of heresy were held at the Clink, and one of them was
John Rogers, a man who published a translated version of the Bible.
Rogers was held at the clink and was then executed being burned at the stake as a heretic.
Also Bishop John Hooper was imprisoned at the clink, and he too was later burned at
the stake for publishing the translated Matthew bible.
It was during the Tudor Period that some other famous prisoners were held such as Thomas
Wyatt the Younger, the son of Thomas Wyatt the Poet who rebelled against Bloody Mary
I.
Many heretics were held inside the clink before they were taken to their executions.
Antony Tyrrel who was accused of plotting to kill Elizabeth I was implicated in the
Babington Plot and was held at the clink.
Also John Lowe and John Adams were held before they were then hanged, drawn and quartered
for being involved in plotting against Elizabeth.
Henry Barrow and John Greenwood who founded the Puritan Church were held at the Clink
before they were hanged at Tyburn.
Their congregation sailed to America on the Mayflower.
Also John Gerard a Jesuit priest was held there, before he was transferred to the Tower
of London and tortured, but he then escaped from the Tower.
The name the Clink emerged at the prison around the 14th century, and one of the most common
beliefs is that the clink referred to the sound of the blacksmith’s hammer as he closed
the irons around the wrists or ankles of the prisoner.
It’s also believed it could be linked to the sound of the cell door.
But there was also a significant degree of torture deployed inside of the clink also.
Some prisoners were brutalised by guards who were intent on extracting information from
the prisoners.
There were many other crimes in which people were held at the clink for, from trespassing,
refusing to pay for cloth and services, and many other people who owed money to people
were imprisoned.
A playwright who knew Shakespeare named William Houghton was held in the clink, and imprisoned
for his debts.
But the most feared element of the clink was the the overcrowding and the poor conditions
that the prisoners were held in.
Disease was known to spread very quickly throughout the dirty prison, and it’s likely that there
were rats found in the clink.
Throughout the century, it was used as a site for heretics and religious criminals, but
it was burned down in 1780 by rioters who yet again released all of the prisoners of
the clink.
But the clink is remembered as one of the most brutal prisons in history found on the
south bank of the River Thames in London.
Many people never made it out as they succumbed to disease behind the bars, and would never
be released from their iron shackles.
Many prisoners were sent to the Tower of London where they were tortured, and today only a
small piece of brickwork survives of the Clink inside the museum that sits on the site.
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