Pump-room at Wandsworth Prison

Book illustration of the pump-room at Wandsworth Prison, from page 405 of 'The criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life' by Henry Mayhew and John Binny. The authors note that the prison and other connected buildings "are supplied by water drawn from an artesian well, 480 feet deep, immediately beneath the pump-house... The pump-house is an oblong building about 54 feet long and 32 feet broad. The machinery runs along the centre of the building. There are twelve stalls on each side, each of them furnished with a handle connected with the central machinery, which, when set in motion, conveys the water into cisterns on the roof of the prison. The prisoners are employed on these machines an hour at a time, and during that period rest three times for five minutes, so that they are kept working forty-five minutes.... The number of revolutions performed at the pumps the day before our visit was 4703, which is about the average number."