Whip, or rod, and whipping-post, Wandsworth

Book illustration showing a whip and whipping post used in Wandsworth House of Correction, from page 520 of 'The criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life' by Henry Mayhew and John Binny. Wandsworth had 14 punishment cells: "They have double doors, which are kept locked, to prevent effectually any communication from without... When under confinement here, the prisoners are kept on bread and water." At the time of their visit, the authors recorded that eight criminals were being held for various offences including shouting in a cell, "exposing their features" and spitting on a Bible. In another cell they viewed a whipping-post "where juvenile criminals are occasionally flogged by order of the magistrates. This is done by means of a birch-rod."