Description
Rowlandson has depicted the huge crowds that filled every available vantage point on execution day, even climbing up the sides of buildings and onto the nearby roofs. Street sellers can be seen in the foreground, plying goods to the watching crowds. The austere mass of Newgate prison, visible behind the crowds of people, was built by George Dance the Younger. It was begun, on the site of an earlier prison, in 1770, but was badly damaged by fire during the Gordon Riots in 1780 and so extensively rebuilt and completed in 1782. On its completion, London’s gallows were moved from Tyburn to Newgate and every Monday morning large crowds would assemble outside. Another view of the same subject by Rowlandson is in the London Museum with another recorded in the collection of Desmond Coke.
Image Licence
All Rights Reserved
Image Credit
image © Guy Peppiatt Fine Art
Location
The Old Bailey, City of London, London, England
Country
England
Tags
Category
Buildings & Architecture
TWW Comment
Newgate Prison stood at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street. It was attached to the Old Bailey, which was extended in 1972, over the former site of Newgate Prison. The prison closed in 1902, and was demolished in 1904. (Wikipedia)
