bridewells
Bridewell Hospital was built on the site of the ancient palace of several English monarchs in London. As early as the reign of King John it had been formed out of the remains of a castle, which stood near the river Thames. Bridewell Palace, was a residence of Henry VIII, which later became a poorhouse and prison. Its name has come to be synonymous with police stations and detention facilities in England and Ireland. It was built on the site of the medieval St Bride's Inn at a cost of £39,000 for Henry VIII, who lived there between 1515-1523. It was named after a nearby well, dedicated to St Bride. The papal delegation had preliminary meetings here in 1528 to discuss the King's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. A pet project of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, it was rebuilt at great cost from funds extorted from all the Abbotts. It was then abandoned by the king after Wolsey's fall in 1530. It was leased to the French ambassador 1531-1539.
Then an Act was brought about in the reign of Edward V1 that any person who lived idle and loiteringly for the space of three days, being brought before two justices, should be marked with a hot iron on the breast with 'V' for vagabond, and be judged a slave to the person who brought him for two years, and if he absented himself fourteen days in the two years he could be marked with 'S' on the forehead or ball of the cheek and adjudged a slave to his master for life. In 1553, Edward VI gave the palace over to the City of London, the conditions were that it was to be for homeless children, for the punishment of 'disorderly women' and a working house for the poor and idle persons of the city. Due to the death of King Edward dying shortly after the grant was made, it was a further two years before possession was confirmed by Queen Mary.The City took full possession in 1556 and turned the palace into a prison, hospital, and workrooms. The hospital was used as a house of correction for all strumpets, night-walkers, pickpockets, vagrants and incorrigible and disobedient servants.
Similar institutions throughout England, Ireland, and Canada also borrowed the name Bridewell. Nowadays, the term frequently refers to a city's main detention facility, usually in close proximity to a courthouse.
Eventually, the site of Bridewell Palace became a school known as Bridewell Royal Hospital. Most of the palace was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and rebuilt in 1666-1667. Made of two courts designed not only for prisons and places of hard labour and punishment, but also for artmasters to teach apprentices various trades. In 1700 it became the first prison to appoint medical staff (a doctor). The prison was closed in 1855, and the buildings destroyed 1863-1864. The school moved to a new site in Surrey, and changed its name to King Edward's School, Witley. It celebrated its 450th year in 2003.
The main site of the palace is now occupied by the Unilever Building, (built 1931).
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