2-838-202 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Glimpses of Old Newgate - Visiting Box and Exterior of Scaffold, c1900. Newgate Prison, dating back to the 12th century, was originally located at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman wall around the city of London. Public hangings, of both men and women, took place outside the prison from 1783 and continued until 1868, when executions were carried out on gallows inside Newgate. In total, 1,169 people were executed - publicly or otherwise - at the prison. Many types of criminals were imprisoned at Newgate, and their offences varied from petty crime and theft, breaking and entering, highway robbery, to serious crimes such as rapes and murders meriting the death penalty. The prison closed in 1902, and was demolished in 1904.