Source: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol3/pp116-122
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 16:07:49+00:00

Document:
Spinning House and Parish Workhouses.
The strategic importance of the castle diminished after 1215; in the records of Henry III's reign it is mentioned almost entirely in connexion with royal government and justice. It played no part in the campaigns of the Barons' Wars, nor was it, apparently, in a condition to be used for a royal residence. Neither Henry III in 1258 and 1267 nor the justices who held the inquiries into rebels' lands in 1268–70 stayed there. (fn. 5) Edward I, however, determined to make it an efficient stronghold. The Exchequer records (fn. 6) tell the detailed story of the way in which an up-to-date building was constructed between 1286 and 1296. This castle had a curtain wall, and a moat, fed by water from a spring in the north-west corner of the bailey; (fn. 7) a great hall; a gatehouse with a barbican; and five towers, including the great tower on the mound. (fn. 8) The particulars of the materials used, (fn. 9) the transport, the provenance of the labourers and their rates of pay, are of much interest. Building went on steadily in 1286–9 and was then suspended; on 4 October 1291 Edward ordered an immediate resumption of work. (fn. 10) In 1293 he spent two nights in the castle, presumably to inspect the works; the first and last king to stay there. (fn. 11) From the military point of view, the subsequent history of the castle hardly seems to justify the £2,525 that Edward spent on it. (fn. 12) The camera armigerorum (fn. 13) cannot have been in constant use, though the castleguard money was regularly exacted. (fn. 14) Architecturally, the gatehouse, the only portion surviving by 1606, and known to us through Cotman's fine drawings, testifies to the quality of Edward's work; to the Cambridge folk of the 17th and 18th centuries it was 'the castle', and a French visitor in 1672 described it as dominating the town. (fn. 15) But in fact its survival was due to its use as a prison.
But in 1647, by vote of both Houses, the works were 'slighted' (fn. 23) and in course of time the Cromwellian barracks became in part a Bridewell for petty offenders, in part the gaoler's house, until the new gaol was built in 1862.
The king's justices visiting a county sat in the county court, (fn. 28) so that a Sessions House was needed on the hill. Presumably the Edwardian hall served the purpose so long as its roof was on, but a Shire House, with a small court for criminal cases and a larger one for civil cases, was built in 1572 by Roger Lord North, who also built a small house for the juries to sit in. (fn. 29) Hamond's plan in 1592, which shows the gallows in the depression below the Castle Mound, represents the Common Law Court as having an arched portico supported by four columns; Bowtell says it was of wood, on a brick foundation. It served the justices of assize until 1747, when the Shire Hall in Cambridge Market Place was built. The new Shire Hall stood in front of the Town Hall—a position which had, apparently, been coveted for it by North in 1571. (fn. 30) It was elevated on pillars 11 ft. high, (fn. 31) so that the market stalls could continue to occupy the ground below. In this building the courts were held, the county authorities being granted the use of the Town Hall and its parlours as required. (fn. 32) But, as Carter said in 1747, (fn. 33) the Shire House in the Market Place was 'not very commodious', and in 1776 Ewin thought it ought to be pulled down. (fn. 34) Though the addition of a spacious gallery with other alterations in 1777 was said to add 'greater decorum and ease' to the conduct of the assizes, (fn. 35) the courts finally' moved back to Castle Hill. In 1842 the Gatehouse was pulled down to make room for the Shire Hall designed by T. H. Wyatt and D. Brandon, in which the assizes were held. (fn. 36) The Shire House in the Market Place became part of the Town Hall. (fn. 37) The Local Government Act of 1888 meant a need for more extensive offices, and a fine County Hall was opened in Hobson Street in 1914. (fn. 38) This in turn proved inadequate, (fn. 39) and in 1931–2 a New County Hall designed by H. H. Dunn was erected on the Castle Yard site, with the materials and on the space released by the destruction of the County Gaol.
As the Eyre rolls report, there were often escapes into sanctuary at All Saints by the Castle, St. Giles, or Chesterton Church. (fn. 40) It would seem that in the Edwardian castle the tower to the east of the mound contained the prison, under the Constables' Chamber. (fn. 41) In the 14th century the castle gaol received not only county prisoners but also those committed by the Vice-Chancellor, though the Borough protested that this was against their liberties. (fn. 42) The grant of the castle 'saving the gaol' to the Earl of Cambridge in 1340–1 indicated its dual character; it is expressly stated that the sheriff is to have free access to the gaol at the gate of the castle. (fn. 43) Thenceforth the gatehouse was to be the castle gaol until the end of the 18th century. By the 16th century the office of gaoler was clearly distinct from that of sheriff and several indentures of appointment are extant. (fn. 44) The upper floor of the gatehouse came to be reserved for superior prisoners, notably debtors; criminals were housed below. (fn. 45) In the 17th century both Roman Catholics associated with the Gunpowder Plot and Protestant dissenters were imprisoned there. (fn. 46) One of the more notable dissenters was Francis Holcroft, ex-fellow of Clare and nonconformist preacher, detained there 1663–72, who had a gentleman's agreement with the gaoler whereby he was let out after dark on Saturday nights, on the understanding that he was back before daylight on Monday, so that he could minister to his pastor-less coreligionists in the county. (fn. 47) Buck's print of 1730 shows the gatehouse in good repair with the gables of the gaoler's house visible above the battlements. In 1759 the Cambridge Chronicle relates how the criminals in the lower gaol filed off their irons, broke fourteen locks and a massive bar across the door, and had almost escaped when the debtors in the upper prison heard them and gave the alarm. (fn. 48) In January 1776 Ewin visited the gaol on behalf of Lord Hardwicke, who had heard reports that it was very cold and had sent in some coals. There were then nine debtors and four felons in the gaol itself and one inmate of the House of Correction or Bridewell. Three of the debtors were breakfasting with the gaoler's family (next door to the Bridewell), and the other six had a warm room with a good fire, whilst some of the felons had been admitted to the House of Correction so as to be warmed by the gaoler's fire. (fn. 49) Howard visited the gaol and the Bridewell soon after, and reported well of them, on the whole, but observed that there was no chaplain. On his second visit in 1782 he especially commended the keeper of the Bridewell as attentive and humane. There were then fifteen debtors and three felons in the Gatehouse. (fn. 50) Nield's account in 1802 describes the 'Low Gaol' as containing four strong rooms and the 'High Gaol' as containing a kitchen and other offices and above them six rooms for the debtors. The Castle Yard was spacious but not available for exercise because not secure. Though there was a chaplain, the prisoners complained they had had no divine service for four months. (fn. 51) He noted that a new gaol was building, 'upon a plan similar to that at Bury St. Edmunds and by the same ingenious architect'. (fn. 52) The design was octagonal, surrounded by a lofty wall, based on the latest Benthamite theories. It was completed by 1807. The last remains of the Edwardian curtain walls were demolished along with the Bridewell, by order of the justices of the peace, (fn. 53) and the gatehouse became the picturesque ruin drawn by Cotman in 1818.
The new County Gaol by the end of the 19th century was standing idle, as Huntingdon Gaol was now adequate for the criminals of both counties. In 1919 arrangements were made to fit it up as a branch repository of the Public Record Office, (fn. 54) and records began to arrive there in the following year. (fn. 55) In 1928 the site was acquired for the use of the county council, the records were sent away in 1929 and 1930, (fn. 56) and the present County Hall was built with the bricks from the gaol. The surrounding grounds have been laid out as a small park.
Until 1855 the market (fn. 57) was an L-shaped space, which is today represented by the east and south sides of the market square. To the west was a block of houses only removed by the fire of 1849. The space to the south was occupied by market stalls until leased to the county as the site of the Shire House. The public announcements nowadays made from the gallery of the Guildhall were formerly made from the steps of the Market Cross (fn. 58) or, after its destruction in 1786, from some inn balcony. Near the Market Cross was the Bull Ring, which served as an enclosure for the pillory and the stocks, as well as for bull baiting. The fountain in the market, mentioned in 1429, was later replaced by the fountain of Hobson's Conduit, and in 1855 by another fountain, since greatly altered.
The municipal buildings of Cambridge have always, so far as is known, stood in the market. From an early date there must have been a building in which the courts and assemblies were held and town treasures preserved, and this may well, as Atkinson suggests, have been erected over the toll booth in the market, (fn. 59) on a spot covered by the present Guildhall. (fn. 60) This early building has been identified with the Jews' house or synagogue granted to the burgesses in 1224 by Henry III to serve as their gaol. (fn. 61) From 1225 to 1238 this was shared with the Franciscans who in the latter year were granted the whole of it by Henry III. (fn. 62) When the Franciscans migrated to Hadstock Way about 1267, (fn. 63) the burgesses appear to have recovered it and used it for their Guildhall. The discovery of a Jewish gravestone on the site strengthens this supposition. (fn. 64) The Tolbooth is first mentioned in 1322, (fn. 65) when a writ was affixed to its door. It is probably the same building as the Guildhall alluded to in the first surviving treasurers' roll for 1347. (fn. 66) In 1386 a new Guildhall was begun, and completed in 1387. (fn. 67) No treasurers' accounts exist for the years between 1347 and 1423, and in 1424 there are charges for removing benches 'from the new Guildhall to the old Guildhall'. (fn. 68) The 'old Tolbooth' is again mentioned in 1486. (fn. 69) Further work was done on the building in 1491. (fn. 70) It seems, then, that the building sketched by Essex in 1781, that served the town until 1782, was of 15th-century origin.
In 1933, after considerable discussion, it was decided to rebuild the Guildhall on the ancient site. (fn. 79) The Guildhall of 1782, which had been considerably modified internally in the sixties, was destroyed, (fn. 80) along with the Shire House of 1747 and the remains of Tanners' Hall, and more space to the west was acquired by pulling down the row of houses fronting Union Street (Peas Hill). The present Guildhall was completed in 1939, after the designs of Mr. Cowles Voysey; it masks the older buildings to east, north, and west, and has a fine frontage on the market, with a balcony from which on 8 May 1945 the end of the war in Europe was proclaimed.
In 1853 the Borough Council voted to adopt the Public Library Act of 1850. In a town meeting on 1 March 1853 the proposal was carried by a majority of 873 to 78, (fn. 131) and the Town Library came into being in 1855. It began with a reference library, housed in the temporarily unused Friends' Meeting House in Jesus Lane.
A lending department was opened in April 1858, and in 1860, after considerable debate, a newspaper reading room. In 1862 the library moved to its present quarters under the Guildhall. In 1872 children were admitted. Branches were opened in East Road in 1875 and Mill Road in 1897. The central reading room was added in 1884 and the reference room in 1916. Open access to the shelves was granted in 1922.
1. See T. McKenny Hughes, 'On the Castle Hill, Cambridge', C.A.S. Comm. viii. 173–212; W. H. St. John Hope, 'On the Norman Origin of Cambridge Castle', C.A.S. Comm. xi. 324–46; W. M. Palmer, Cambridge Castle (1928).
2. Lib. Mem. de Bernewelle, 238.
3. C. R. Fox in C.A.S. Comm. xxiii. 15–45.
4. Palmer, 'Cambridge Castle Building Accounts', C.A.S. Comm. xxvi. 69.
5. Lib. Mem. de Bernewelle, 106, 122, 124.
7. It contained water until 1600: Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 29.
8. C.A.S. Comm. xxvi. 70–86.
9. Bowtell describes the strength of the remains destroyed in 1807—'rag, clunch and other stones strongly connected': T. M. Hughes, C.A.S. Comm. viii. 209.
11. Lib. Mem. de Bernewelle, 227.
12. C.A.S. Comm. xxvi. 86.
14. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 8. The garrison in 1215 was 20, (ibid. 7); it was 30 in 1317 (ibid. 17); in 1646 25 were left to hold it (ibid. 37), out of a normal garrison of 120 foot and 10 horse: Cooper, Annals, iii. 394.
15. Cooper, Annals, iii. 555.
16. E 368/103, m. 9.
17. Cooper, Annals, i. 109.
18. The East Anglian, vi. 250.
19. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 20–25.
20. Five occupants of houses in the castle precincts are mentioned in 1262 and 1279. Palmer, Assizes at Cambridge in 1260, 6; Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 356. The process of encroachment can be traced by comparing Hamond's map of 1592 with Loggan's of 1688.
21. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 25–32.
22. T. M. Hughes, C.A.S. Comm. viii. 197–8. For views of the castle in 1730 and 1818 see plates opposite.
23. C.A.S. Comm. viii. 197–8.
24. P.N. Cambs. (E.P.N.S.), 39.
25. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 32.
27. Hist. MSS. Com. Rutland MSS. iv. 257; Gunning, Reminiscences, ii. 69 sqq.
28. Railway Travellers' Guide (1867), 122.
29. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 37.
30. Cooper, Annals, ii. 279.
31. Ibid. iv. 258; Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 89.
32. Atkinson, op. cit. 89–90.
33. Carter, Hist. of Camb. 38.
34. B.M. Add. MS. 35626, 3 May 1776.
35. Cambridge Chronicle, 12 July 1777.
36. Cooper, Annals, iv. 657.
37. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 91.
38. A. Gray, Town of Cambridge, 195.
39. In 1951 the Hobson Street building housed the County Planning Offices and the offices of the R.D.C.s of Chesterton and South Cambs.
40. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 8, 17–19; Cal. Close, 1302–7, 298; C.A.S. Comm. xxvi. 81.
41. C.A.S. Comm. xxvi. 81.
42. Cooper, Annals, i. 76, 80, 90, 127.
44. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 34 sqq.
45. For the bequests for prisoners in Cambridge, in some of which those in the county gaol shared, see below, p. 121.
46. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 34.
47. B. Nutter, Story of the Camb. Baptists (1912), 60. The gaoler's grandson was a member of the Hog Hill Congregation in Conder's days (1738–54).
48. Palmer, Cambridge Castle, 19.
49. B.M. Add. MS. 35626, 22 Jan. 1776.
50. John Howard, State of the Prisons in England and Wales (1777), 248–50; App. (1784), 198.
51. Cooper, Annals, v. 525–6.
52. Byfield was the architect.
53. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 126.
54. 81st Dep. Kpr.'s Rep. 3.
55. 82nd Dep. Kpr.'s Rep. 2.
56. 91st Dep. Kpr.'s Rep. 2; 92nd Dep. Kpr.'s Rep. 3.
57. See map in Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 82. For a reproduction of part of Custance's map of 1798 see above, plate facing p. 76; for a view of 1842 see plate opposite.
60. Bowtell's suggestion of a rival site on Peas Hill is rejected by Cooper, Annals, i. 131, n. 2.
61. See below, p. 120.
62. V.C.H. Cambs. ii. 276.
63. J. R. H. Moorman, Grey Friars in Cambridge, 39. The account of the Franciscans in V.C.H. Cambs. ii. 277, omits all reference to this move which is attested by the account in Rot. Hund. (Rec. Com.), ii. 360.
64. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 133.
65. Cooper, Annals, i. 79.
69. Ibid. 233. See below, p. 120.
70. Cooper, Annals, i. 240.
71. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 83.
73. See Cole's account: ibid. 86, n. 5.
74. Cooper, Annals, iv. 403–4. The foundation stone described by Cooper, with the inscription (composed by Cole) was discovered during the excavations for the present Guildhall in 1938 and can be seen there. There is a reproduction of it in F. A. Keynes, By-ways of Camb. Hist. (2nd ed.), 4.
75. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 87.
77. See below, p. 122.
78. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 91 sqq.
79. F. A. Keynes, Gathering up the Threads, 100.
80. For a view of 1842 see above, plate facing p. 119.
81. Cooper, Annals, i. 39.
82. Close R. 1237–41, 61; Cal. Lib. R. 1226–40, 338.
83. Close R. 1247–51, 34.
84. See above, p. 119.
85. Cooper, Annals, i. 260.
86. Atkinson, Cambridge Described (1897), 92–93, doubted whether the Jews' house had ever been completely rebuilt, and Stokes, Short Hist. of the Jews in England (1921), 19, refers to the 'thick underground walls by the Guildhall at Cambridge', characteristic of Jews' cellars. If such remains were still traceable they must have disappeared finally in 1939 when the new Guildhall was built.
87. Cooper, Annals, i. 373. For the dispute as to its custody between University and Borough, 1601–7, see above, p. 78.
88. Cooper, Annals, ii. 615; iii. 26–27.
89. See above, p. 37.
90. Cooper, Annals, ii. 103.
91. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 93.
92. Cooper, Annals, iii. 256; Memorials, iii. 142.
93. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 142.
94. For letter from debtors in Cambridge gaol in 1690, see Cooper, Annals, v. 481.
95. E. Carter, Hist. of County of Cambridge (1753), 17; Howard, State of the Prisons, 250.
96. B.M. Add. MS. 35629, 15 May 1782.
97. Cooper, Annals, v. 526.
98. See below, p. 121.
99. Cooper, Annals, iv. 440.
100. It was repurchased by the town in 1890 for £1,000: Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 94, n. 3.
101. See illustration in Cooper, Memorials, iii. 141. The building appears in the background of the illustration reproduced below, facing p. 286.
102. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 143. The indignation of the good Town Clerk is thinly veiled.
103. Rep. on Municipal Corporations, p. 2194.
104. Atkinson, Cambridge Described, 94. Queen Anne Terrace now stands on its site.
105. 31st Rep. Com. Char. , pp. 31, 43, H.C. (1837–8), xxiv.
106. Palmer, Camb. Boro. Docs. 153; Cooper, Annals, i. 293.
107. 31st Rep. Com. Char. 43; Cooper, Annals, ii. 510.
108. 31st Rep. Com. Char. 30–31; Char. Com. files.
109. 31st Rep. Com. Char. , pp. 24–30, H.C. (1837–8), xxiv; Cooper, Annals, iii. 230–7 gives a biography of Hobson, who died 1 Jan. 1631, aged 85.
110. 31st Rep. Com. Char. 24–30; Cooper, Memorials, iii. 145.
111. A. Gray, Town of Cambridge, 100.
112. Cooper, Annals, iii. 204–5.
113. Ibid. v. 527; cf. Howard, State of the Prisons, 250.
114. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 145.
116. B.M. Add. MS. 25626, 22 and 26 Jan. 1776.
117. Howard, State of the Prisons, App. 199.
118. Cooper, Annals, v. 527.
119. C.A.S. Comm. xv. 93–94.
120. 31st Rep. Com. Char. , pp. 24–28, H.C. (1837–8), xxiv.
121. The plate facing p. 77, above, shows the Spinning House and the police station gates.
122. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 146. For the ending of the Vice-Chancellor's jurisdiction in this sphere, see above, p. 79.
123. A. Gray, Town of Cambridge, 100.
125. C.A.S. Comm. xv. 93.
128. Gray, op. cit. 100.
129. Cooper, Memorials, iii. 279.
130. Cooper, Annals, iv. 409; The New Cambridge Guide in 1804 mentions other flourishing book clubs besides that at the 'Bull', p. 92.
131. Cooper, Annals, v. 110.
132. Camb. Public Libr. Record, i (1926), 5; iii (1930), 5–14; J. W. Clark, Concise Guide (1951), 71.

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