Gatehouse Prison
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Gatehouse Prison was a prison in Westminster, built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey. It was first used as a prison by the Abbot, a powerful churchman who held considerable power over the precincts and sanctuary. It was one of the prisons which supplied the Old Bailey with information on former prisoners (such as their identity or prior criminal records) for making indictments against criminals.[1]
While he was imprisoned in the Gatehouse for petitioning to have the Clergy Act 1640 annulled, Richard Lovelace wrote "To Althea, from Prison", with its famous lines

The Gatehouse prison was demolished in 1776. On its site, in front of the Abbey's Great West Door, is the Westminster scholars' Crimean War Memorial.
Notable prisoners
- Giles Wigginton, a Puritan cleric and controversialist, was imprisoned for 2 months around 1584, for refusing to take an oath.
- Sir Walter Raleigh was held here the night before he was beheaded in Old Palace Yard, Westminster on 29 October 1618.[2]
- Thomas Bates
- Christopher Holywood[3]
- Henry Lok
- Richard Lovelace
- Samuel Pepys
- John Southworth
- Sir Thomas Ragland[4]
- John Bastwick
- Henry Savile
- Laurence Vaux[5]
- Jeffrey Hudson
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Trial Procedures". Old Bailey online. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Book of Prisoners". The Tower of London. Camelot International.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Christopher Holywood". Catholic Encyclopedia. New Advent.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ragland, Sir Thomas, of Carnllwyd, Glam. Roughton Holme, Norf. and Walworth, Surr". The History of Parliament. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Laurence Vaux". Catholic Encyclopedia. New Advent.
Further reading
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Forsythe, James Neild (2000). State of the Prisons in England, Scotland, and Wales, Not for the Debtor Only, But for Felons Also, and Other Less Criminal Offenders. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-23127-2.
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tanner, Lawrence Edward (1923). Westminster School, Its Buildings and Their Associations. London: Philip Allan.
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