The marshy land for Millbank Prison was purchased from the Marquis of Salisbury in 1799 for £12,0000 by Jeremy Bentham on behalf of the government: that’s over £1.3 million in today’s money.
The building was going to be the first of its kind, a snowflake shape prison where one guard standing in the middle could view all prisoners and not be seen himself: this was Bentham’s Panopticon prison, meant to enforce good behaviour as prisoners did not know at what times they were being observed.
The plan was scrapped and after much wrangling, it wasn’t until 1821 where we see the first physical structure finally built on the site. On the 26th June 1816 the first female prisoners arrived, followed 7 months later by the men.
Millbank became the sole location and holding area for inmates sentenced to transportation right up until 1853 when it was no longer deemed a large-scale viable punishment.
The prison closed in 1890 due to unsanitary conditions and disease caused by the marshy site.
