The Horrors of Being Locked in Newgate — London’s Worst Ever Prison

0:00 The Black Session of 1750 2:27 How Newgate began 4:48 A prison run for profit 7:38 Jail fever and the Press Yard 9:53 Life in the condemned hold 12:49 Jack Shepard’s escapes 16:25 Elizabeth Fry enters Newgate 21:42 Newgate’s legacy What did it really mean to be locked inside Newgate, Britain’s most feared prison? I trace the journey from the moment the gates closed to the condemned hold, the fever-filled cells, and the gallows beyond the prison walls. I explore the Black Session of 1750, the prison’s brutal system of fees and chains, and the stories of three people who left their mark on Newgate: Daniel Defoe, Jack Shepard, and Elizabeth Fry. I also follow Newgate’s final years, the end of public executions, and what remains at the site today. This is the dark, unpolished history of London’s most notorious prison.