Newgate Prison prisoners who had not been accused of serious crimes would be allowed to use the chapel and recreation rooms at no additional fees. Meanwhile, debtors whose burden did not meet a minimum threshold would not be required to wear shackles. Prison officials were barred from selling food, charcoal, and candles. The prison was supposed to have yearly inspections, but whether or not they actually occurred is unknown. Other reforms attempted to reduce the waiting time between jail deliveries to the Old Bailey, with the aim of reducing suffering, but these efforts had little effect. Over the centuries, Newgate was used
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,