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Newgate Prison was a London prison located at the corner of Old Bailey and Newgate Street within the City of London. Originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall, the prison was built in 1188 on the orders of Henry II. Significantly enlarged in 1236, the prison perished in the Great Fire of London and was rebuilt in 1672. Demolished in 1777, it was rebuilt and finally closed in 1902.

The medieval statute dictated that the prison was to be managed by two Sheriffs who were to be annually elected. The pair would portion the prison’s administration out between private ‘gaolers’ or ‘keepers’ for a price. The keepers would exact payment directly from the inmates which made the position of Keeper one of the most profitable in London. The system obviously offered incentives for Keepers to exhibit cruelty to the prisoners and over-charge them. They certainly did not present the prisoners with flowers! Edmund Lorimer and Hugh DeCroydon were the most notorious Keepers in the Middle Ages, the first charging inmates four times the legal limit to have their irons removed, and the second eventually convicted for blackmailing prisoners.