Although never officially a prison, the Tower of London has held hundreds of London’s most dangerous prisoners. Like the story of the Tower itself, its role as prison is a varied one.

Clink prison dates back to 1144, making it one of England’s oldest prisons. On the site now lies the Clink Prison Museum, with a collection of original artefacts.

This viewpoint will trace the history of one of London’s oldest prisons, Brixton. HMP Brixton has a 200-year history and is still operational today. The prison has functioned as a local prison, a female convict prison and a military prison and in use today as a men’s prison.

Coleman Street during the civil wars of the seventeenth century became home to religious and political firebrands, a hotbed of radical ideas during a period when the world was turned upside down.