The Clink Prison Museum in London replicates medieval prison conditions with sound effects and displays of torture devices. Visitors can try out equipment and learn about the harsh life of inmates. Educational tours are available. The museum is small and not wheelchair accessible. Other nearby sites include the London Dungeon and London Bridge Experience.
The Clink Prison Museum is a museum based and located on the site where Clink Prison in London originally stood. The atmosphere inside the museum was designed to replicate prison conditions with gloomy cells lit by candles and floors covered in sawdust. Sound effects, including the moans of the wax figures, complement the displays of torture devices. The museum has mixed reviews from visitors with some finding it not worth the admission fee and others finding it a compelling and realistic portrayal of medieval prison life.
Clink Jail housed male and female inmates from 1151 to 1780. Life in the prison was harsh and cruel to prisoners who had no rights and were subjected to torture and abuse. Prisoners who had money or outside connections could bribe their jailers and thus serve their sentences in more humane conditions, at least for the moment in question. Those who weren’t so lucky were lucky to leave prison in one piece or at all.
Visitors to the Clink Prison museum can try out some of the equipment used to torture prisoners, such as balls and chains and nuptial scoldings. The pictures and articles placed around the cells are designed to give visitors a good idea of what life was like for inmates. The Clink Prison Museum’s hands-on philosophy allows tourists to experience part of the life of a medieval prisoner.
Each of the cells caters to a different time period, and the fact sheets convey relevant information. The Clink Prison Museum is small but visitors who take the time to absorb the information available will feel the price of admission was worth paying. Educational groups have the opportunity to use the tour guide service. The aim of the educational tours is to impart a solid understanding of daily life during the time the prison was in use with the personal stories of some of the current inmates bringing an added reality to the scene.
Other London sites nearby that also offer a glimpse of detention in the past are the London Dungeon and the London Bridge Experience. Located next to London Bridge on the south bank of the Thames, the Clink Prison Museum is within walking distance of public transport. Being small, the museum is not wheelchair or stroller accessible and, due to the somewhat macabre nature of the exhibits, may not be to everyone’s taste, especially young children.
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