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United Kingdom

Coldbath Fields Prison

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Verified 29 May 2026
Fresh · 0d ago

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Photograph of Coldbath Fields Prison

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • Boys Exercising at Tothill Fields Prison.jpg

    Photo by From Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor", 1851. via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Mothers with their children exercising at Tothill Fields Prison John Johnson.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

  • Print (BM 1850,0112.51).jpg

    Photo by Print made by: John Harris the Younger After: Robert Abraham via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Prisons. Boys exercising at Tothill Fields Prison. Wellcome L0002980.jpg

    Photo by Unknown via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Background

Coldbath Fields Prison, also formerly known as the Middlesex House of Correction and Clerkenwell Gaol and informally known as the Steel, was a prison in the Mount Pleasant area of Clerkenwell, London. Founded in the reign of James I (1603–1625) it was completely rebuilt in 1794 and extended in 1850. It housed prisoners on short sentences of up to two years. Blocks emerged to segregate felons, misdemeanants and vagrants. The prison closed in 1885.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

Current population

Occupancy

Year opened

1794

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

1794

Region

Security level

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Contact & address

No public contact details available.

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

Insufficient data
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Data completeness

16%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources