The workshop under the 'silent system' at Millbank Prison

Book illustration of 'The workshop under the 'silent system' at Millbank Prison' from page 163 of 'The criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life' by Henry Mayhew and John Binny. At Millbank prisoners spent their first six months in separate cells before being moved into four large associated rooms, three of which also functioned as workshops. The authors visited one such associated room, which could hold a maximum of 83 men, although the number was limited to 56. "The men sleep here, work here, take their meals here. They roll their beds up into the shape of big muffs, and place them above on the shelf. The tables are 'unshipped' at night, and the hammocks are slung to the hooks along the rails on either side of the gangway down the centre". After breakfast the men started work, one side of the room being engaged in shoemaking and the other side in tailoring.