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Briavels Debtors’ Gaol
From "The Forest of Dean“, Henry Nicholls 1858
We do not know what the layout of the Gloucester castle debtors’ gaol was, but most debtors’ gaols consisted of a single large cell where all debtors were held until their families paid their debt. This drawing shows the debtors’ gaol in St. Briavels Castle in the Forest of Dean. Conditions inside were usually bad and prisoners often died of disease, typically ‘gaol fever’ (typhus). Prisoners only received food if it was paid for or provided to them by their families and so many suffered from starvation – as well as abuse from other prisoners. Many debtors remained locked up for years and it was common for their families to fall into poverty.
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