Clink Prison Museum

The Clink Prison in London was an infamous medieval jail operated by the Bishop of Winchester from the twelfth century until 1780, giving rise to the famous slang phrase in the clink. Owned by a church leader rather than the monarch, it held prisoners in severe conditions, including flooded sewage-filled cellars. In 1780, rioters during the Gordon Riots burned the prison down, freeing all inmates who were never recaptured.

London · from the walk “London's Big Kid Adventure” · Generated

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Clink Prison Museum, 1 Clink Street, London SE1 9DG

Who operated London's Clink Prison from the twelfth century until 1780?

Alright, here's a question for you. Have you ever heard someone say "thrown in the clink"... meaning thrown in jail? Well, guess what — you're standing Right where that expression was born!......... The Clink was a prison in South-wark, England, which operated from the twelfth century all the way until seventeen eighty. That's over Six Hundred years of locking people up! It was possibly the oldest men's prison, and probably the oldest women's prison in all of England.......... But here's the really wild part. This prison didn't belong to the King or Queen... it belonged to the Bishop of Win-chester! That's right — a Church leader ran this place. As the owner of the local area, the Bishop kept all the money from the land, and could throw people in prison just for not paying him. Not exactly what you'd expect from a man of God, right?......... Now, where did the name "The Clink" actually come from? One popular idea is that it came from the sound of the blacksmith's hammer closing iron chains around the wrists or ankles of prisoners. Clink... clink... clink. Imagine hearing that echo down a dark stone corridor. Whatever the real reason, the prison gave its name to All prisons after it — that's why people still say "in the clink" today!......... And the conditions inside? Absolutely horrible. The lower cellars of the prison would regularly flood during high tides, and prisoners would have to stand waist-high in sewage. The guards were so poorly paid that they found sneaky ways to make extra money — prisoners with cash could actually Pay the guards for better treatment. Food and drink were charged at Twice the normal price. No money? No food. Simple as that.......... But here's a story you won't forget. A prisoner named Henry Bron-ker, locked up around sixteen seventy, came up with the most disgusting survival trick ever — he would fatten up the prison Rats on scraps of leather and parchment... and then eat them when they were nice and plump! Gross? Absolutely. But clever enough to keep him alive!......... Oh, and one more thing. There was actually a secret chapel hidden inside the Clink, where two imprisoned priests named Father John Ger-ard and Father William Wes-ton would hold secret services for other Catholic prisoners. They would buy oranges from the guards and use the orange juice as invisible ink to send secret messages to the outside world! How cool is that — real-life spy stuff, hundreds of years ago!......... The Clink finally met its end in seventeen eighty, when rioters during the Gor-don Riots broke in, freed all the prisoners, and burned the whole building to the ground. And here's the best twist — the Clink was never rebuilt, and none of those escaped prisoners were Ever recaptured. Every single one of them vanished into the streets of Lon-don... free at last.

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