Air raid, flogging and hanging

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On Friday Siri and I decided to go and check out more of Nottingham, so we went to the caves and Galleries of Justice. The caves are all sandstone and were man made. They were used as a tannery until the 1600s. The tannery part of the caves were really rediscovered until they were going to build the Broadmarsh Shopping Center. During the Victorian era some of the caves were used as cellars and living areas for the not so wealthy. During WWII the caves were used as bomb shelters and we participated in an air raid as part of our tour. There are over 400 caves under the city center in Nottingham though most are pretty small and used as cellars if they are used at all. What was really cool was that a building sits over top the caves and we could hear people walking around above us. After the caves, we made our way over to the Galleries of Justice. The Galleries were once the sight of trials, the jails, and hangings. The great thing about the Galleries was that it had re-enactors and we also had to participate. Our ticket had a convict number on the back of it that we traced through history and found out what punishments were given out in different time periods. We started off in the court room that was used until the 1800s where we reenacted the trial of George Beck. I was the defense witness, but I gave false testimony - I had to say that I had known George all my life, but being from the States kind of gave me away. While George was sentenced to hang, I was supposed to get 12 lashes with a cat 'o nine tails. We were then sent down to the jail where we met the turnkey. First we matched our convict number with an actual prisoner - mine had murdered a child - and found out the punishment for that crime - I was to hang. Then we turned the corner and the turnkey had a cat 'o nine tails in his hand. He drew back and lashed the wall. It was frightening, but still really cool. He then told us we were not good Christians and would have to pay for our food and lodging before we were hung - prison was not cheep. If we ran out of money, we would be sent down to the pits - which we saw later and they were dark and would have been horrible to live in. Then he locked us in a cell. The cell was probably about 5 to 6 feet across and maybe 8 to 10 feet long and we would have slept on hammocks, but thankfully he let us out. Then as he was teaching us about how the position of the turnkey changed overtime, Siri and I had the misfortune of laughing. He then discovered that we were American. He asked Siri if she was a loyalist or a rebel and Siri replied, "Probably a rebel" which made me smile. So he turns to me and asks, "You too?" I say yes and he calls us rebel scum and tells us that it is our fault that they can't ship prisoners to America any more and so have to send them to Australia. He then sent us down to the Victorian era which had much better facilities and a nicer jailer. We were able to go out into the prison yard where prisoners had carved their initials and where a gallows still stood though it hasn't been used since the 1800s. We then were shipped to the colonies which, I have to say, is preferable to hanging. The rest of the exhibit was mostly how prisons became more modern and finally we "escaped" back to the 21st century.

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Photos

Enchanted Well
A Wishing Well down in the caves

Roommates!
Siri and Erin looking stylish in their green safety helmets!

Tannery
The Tannery in the caves

Living in the caves
A Victorian era house in the caves

In the Prison Yard
In front of the Gallows

Escape!
Siri trying to escape prison!

Convict!
Convict number one . . .

Convict!
and convict number two