This is Somerset --A grim reminder of the days when thousands of Bristolians flocked to see public hangings is to be refurbished as a centre-piece of a new dockside housing development.
The gloomy-looking granite gateway on the Cumberland Road is destined to become part of a pedestrian route into the new homes.
In fact the crumbling gateway overlooking the New Cut is one of the few parts of the 19th century prison to remain.
Despite this it's significance as an important historical building is such that English Heritage has decided to give it a Grade II listing.
The prison, which saw its first inmates in August 1820, replaced the old and crumbling Newgate, which stood on the site of The Galleries shopping mall.
Holding about 200 criminals and debtors the prison had a flat roof with a trap door for public hangings – a popular spectator attraction in those days.
In fact, the first hanging took place about nine months after the prison opened.
Thousands of people gathered outside and alongside the New Cut, to follow the last mortal moments of 18-year old murderer John Horwood.
His appointment with the hangman followed a conviction for killing his sweetheart.
It was said in court that, during a lover's tiff, Horwood had thrown a stone at the girl which caught her on the head.
She died in hospital three weeks later.
There were so many onlookers for the hanging that notices were displayed warning people about the danger of falling into the unfenced river.
In 1831, when Bristol witnessed what were then the worst civil disturbances in its history, the prison was attacked by rioters.
They had broken away from a much larger crowd in Queen Square who were protesting about a corrupt Bristol Corporation and the inequalities of the Reform Bill.
Rioters breached the prison's iron gates after battering them with sledge hammers, hatchets and crowbars.
A small boy was then able to get inside the gates and draw back the bolts.
About 170 freed prisoners joined the mob, setting fire to the treadmill and gallows, along with the governor's house and prison chapel.
Order was eventually restored to the city by troops from Gloucester who opened fire on the crowd, killing around 130 of them.
The prison was closed in 1883 when the government condemned it as inadequate.
Bristol Corporation (now the City Council) then paid £3,875 for land at Horfield, owned by the Bristol Pleasure Garden Company, and built the city's present prison on the site.
Meanwhile the old site at Cumberland Road was sold to the Great Western Railway company.
For many years, up to the mid 1970s in fact, part of the site was used as a coal yard by Lowell Baldwin who supplied houses and factories across the city.
Another part was used by Chamberlain Pole, the family grain, flour and cereals company.
Long before health and safety came into being the 20-foot high piles of cockleshells outside the firm's warehouse were a playground for children from nearby Southville and Bedminster.
Plans for re-developing the site, which sits between Cumberland Road and M Shed, were drawn up and agreed a few years ago but put on hold as the financial downturn kicked in.
Now a £12 million investment by the Home and Communities Agency (HCA), the government body for housing, has at last led to work being resumed.
The first stage of the dockside re-development includes 194 new and affordable homes, retail space, a pedestrian and cycle route and a public square. When complete the old wharf will be graced by more than 600 homes and a boutique hotel.
Managing director Stuart Hatton said: "The prison gateway is an important feature of Bristol's history.
"It's vital it is retained not just as a monument which has been left isolated, but as an integral part of the development.
"The arch will be refurbished to become part of a route to two residential blocks either side of it"
A team of archaeologists will shortly start digging on the site looking for remains of 18th and 19th century industrial buildings which are known to include a timber yard and a ropewalk associated with Bristol's role as a port. Reported by This is 7 hours ago.