Curtain Wall to the Old Gaol including Laundry Block

Curtain Wall to the Old Gaol including Laundry Block

This is a Grade II* listed boundary wall complex surrounding the former gaol, comprising multiple phases of construction and several ancillary structures.

The boundary wall itself is built in two main sections. The earlier southwestern part uses large blocks of coursed stone on its exterior face with brown brick to the interior. This section contains two 12-pane sash windows that formerly lit the laundry block, and terminates at the northwest angle of the Female Wing. The later wall joins at an angle and is constructed of snecked stone with an offset to the exterior and red brick to the interior, finished with flat stone copings. A gateway towards the northwest features a segmental arch of stone voussoirs on the exterior and brick on the interior; the lower part has been infilled with masonry and iron railings. A bridge formerly crossed the river at this point. On the eastern side, the wall is high, but towards the south, where it adjoins the infirmary, the wall has been lowered and fitted with concrete copings.

The southern wall fronting Clwyd Street incorporates several types of walling, some of which has been reconstructed. To the left, a high wall of large coursed masonry blocks runs westward before being replaced by a low wall of coursed stone. Between this wall and the southwest corner of the Front Range, a wide entrance survives. Similar masonry of coursed stone adjoins the southeast corner of the Front Range, curving slightly with an offset. At a higher level, it has been rebuilt around 2000 in snecked rock-faced stone with flat grey stone copings. The main entrance immediately to the right was also reconstructed around 2000, featuring a high round arch of pointed-ended rusticated grey stone voussoirs. Some original snecked masonry and rusticated quoins survive at the southeast corner of the curtain wall. Stub walls at right angles form internal gateways adjacent to the southeast corner of the Infirmary block, the northwest corner of the Female Wing, and the northwest corner of the Pentonville Wing.

The laundry block occupies the southwest corner of the site as a single-storey lean-to structure built against the curtain wall. It is constructed of large blocks of coursed stone beneath a hipped slate roof surmounted by a steel cupola, with a skylight to the roof pitch. The east-facing elevation features three large windows with 12-pane horned sashes in yellow sandstone surrounds, and a smaller top-hung window to the far right. Evidence suggests there were formerly three narrow doorways. At the south end is a boarded and studded door offset to the left with a plain overlight. Adjacent to the left and set back is a brick lean-to against the boundary wall with a slate roof and yellow brick stack to the rear right. This section has a horned sash window with a sandstone lintel to the right, and to the left a door and 6-pane window under a continuous sandstone lintel; ventilators to the upper storey show signs of alteration.

During World War II, a number of temporary munitions storage and manufacturing structures were erected against the curtain wall. On the east side opposite the Pentonville Wing stands a single-storey lean-to of corrugated iron on a red brick plinth; the plinth continues to the north, indicating the structure was originally longer. Double boarded doors open to the south end and a single boarded door to the north; the west side has short double boarded doors to the right, to the left of which is a wide band of wooden glazing two panes high. Against the interior of the north curtain wall are the shadows of three former gabled ranges which had concrete floors, with further floor remains of additional structures to the northwest.