National archives extracts, PCOM 7 367

Caption

The everyday items issued to incarcerated people over a century ago echo closely resemble those still issued today. So too do the protracted debates over what prisoners need and how they should care for those items. Annotations to the guidance circulated by the Prison Commission show that knives were removed from this list in 1914. National Archives, PCOM 7 367: Sanitation, Cleaning of Prisoners’ Eating Utensils (1914)

Medium

Photograph

Form

Digital

Artist / Maker

N/A

Why have we collected this work?

We want to understand what these prisons are like to live and work in, and how has this changed over time. We are examining the ways that these prison buildings carry traces of the past, while operating in the present day.

The project considers how and why these buildings have survived for so long, and asks how we will know when they have reached the end of their operational lives. We consider the significance of the Victorian prison in shaping public and professional ideas of what prison should be like. Crucially, this project explores the implications of the continued operation of Victorian-era prisons for the contemporary prison service, and aims to inform policy development.

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