A History of Bridewell Prison - Part 1 : 1553-1700

London's Bridewell Prison was the location of many "firsts" in penology.

For the first time in world history, corporal or capital punishment was substituted for imprisonment at hard labor, which is the very definition of a penitentiary.

Although Bridewell was a revolutionary experiment in penal reform, it ultimately failed to deliver what its proponents promised.