The Clink Prison Museum

The Clink Prison Museum Review

The reason why the term clink became slang for jail, this was the site of a prison owned by the Bishops of Winchester from 1144 to 1780. With a strong claim to being the oldest prison in England, it was certainly the oldest of Southwark's five prisons and was the first to detain women, many of whom were prostitutes, leading to local ladies of the evening being called "Winchester geese." Because of the bishops' relaxed attitude toward the endemic trade—they decided to license prostitution rather than ban it—the area within their jurisdiction was known as "the Liberty of the Clink." You'll discover how grisly a Tudor prison could be, operating on a code of cruelty, deprivation, and corruption.

The prison was only a small part of Winchester Palace, a huge complex that was the bishops' London residence. You can still see the remains of the early 13th-century Great Hall, with its famous rose window, located next to Southwark Cathedral.