Newgate Prison Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the prison was extended and rebuilt many times, and remained in use for over 700 years, from 1188 to 1902. In the early 12th century, Henry II instituted legal reforms that gave the Crown more control over the administration of justice. As part of his Assize of Clarendon of 1166, he required the construction of
Old Newgate Prison was discovered at this site on the west side of Talcott Mountain, then part of Simsbury, in 1705. A mine was in operation in 1707, created by digging a vertical shaft and tunneling horizontally, with additional vertical shafts dug for ventilation. The mine operated until 1745. About half of the extant tunnels can be seen. The Colony of Connecticut then converted the tunnel network into a prison, naming it after London's Newgate Prison. The first prisoner for whom the state has surviving documentation, John Hinson, was committed for burglary in 1773, and escaped in 1774. During the American Revolutionary War,