Victorian Prisons Law and order was a major issue in Victorian Britain. They were worried about rising crime. Australia was complaining that they did not want to be the dumping-ground for Britain s criminals. It was a massive building programme, costing millions of pounds. The big extension to Coldbath Fields prison can be seen in Source 1.
Many Victorian prisons are still in use today.
There was more to Victorian plans than just bigger and better buildings. This was based on the belief that convicted criminals had to face up to themselves. Accordingly, they were kept on their own in their cells most of the time. Not surprisingly, many went mad under this system. By the 1860s opinion had changed.