Add cemetery photos

Chester Castle Cemetery

Also known as Chester County Gaol Cemetery

Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England

About

  • Get directions Chester, Cheshire, England
    Coordinates: 53.18532, -2.89279
  • Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

Advertisement

Photos

Founded by William I in 1070. The castle was used as a gaol by 1241, when Welsh hostages were confined there. By the 16th century the county gaol was situated in the outer gatehouse and the adjoining former exchequer. It became a detention centre for recusants in the 1580s and 1590s. In 1648, it was refurbished and restored to use after the discovery of a royalist plot to recover castle and city. By 1681 the prison was in great decay. Although the Crown met the heavy costs of renovation, thereafter its maintenance was left to the county authorities, who by the 1690s were raising levies for further repairs. By the 1770s the prison in the north-east corner of the castle was clearly unsatisfactory; cramped and airless, it was compared by the reformer John Howard to the Black Hole of Calcutta, and in 1784 it was presented at the assizes as out of repair and insufficient. In 1785 the Cheshire quarter sessions ordered its rebuilding. Thomas Harrison's new prison, opened in 1793, was designed according to the enlightened principles advocated by Howard. The prison, which had been found inadequate by the visiting justices in 1865, was transferred from county control to the Crown in 1877 and closed to civil prisoners in 1884, though there continued to be a small military prison in the castle until 1893. The gaol buildings were purchased by the county council in 1894 and demolished in 1900–2, the site being used later for a new county hall. (www.british-history.ac.uk)
Founded by William I in 1070. The castle was used as a gaol by 1241, when Welsh hostages were confined there. By the 16th century the county gaol was situated in the outer gatehouse and the adjoining former exchequer. It became a detention centre for recusants in the 1580s and 1590s. In 1648, it was refurbished and restored to use after the discovery of a royalist plot to recover castle and city. By 1681 the prison was in great decay. Although the Crown met the heavy costs of renovation, thereafter its maintenance was left to the county authorities, who by the 1690s were raising levies for further repairs. By the 1770s the prison in the north-east corner of the castle was clearly unsatisfactory; cramped and airless, it was compared by the reformer John Howard to the Black Hole of Calcutta, and in 1784 it was presented at the assizes as out of repair and insufficient. In 1785 the Cheshire quarter sessions ordered its rebuilding. Thomas Harrison's new prison, opened in 1793, was designed according to the enlightened principles advocated by Howard. The prison, which had been found inadequate by the visiting justices in 1865, was transferred from county control to the Crown in 1877 and closed to civil prisoners in 1884, though there continued to be a small military prison in the castle until 1893. The gaol buildings were purchased by the county council in 1894 and demolished in 1900–2, the site being used later for a new county hall. (www.british-history.ac.uk)

Nearby cemeteries

St. Mary's Centre

Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England

  • 3k+
  • 12%
  • 0%
0.1 mi
St Bridget Churchyard

Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England

  • 508
  • 94%
  • 0%
0.1 mi
St Olave's Church

Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England

  • 165
  • 4%
  • 0%
0.2 mi
St. Mary Without-The-Walls Churchyard

Chester, Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority, Cheshire, England

  • 5
  • 0%
  • 0%
0.2 mi
  • Added: 6 Dec 2012
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2475948