I'm in prison?

Banged up in Bodmin

From Porridge at breakfast...

...To locked up by lunchtime.

It's not everyday that you get to experience life within the walls of a former old world prison, especially one that is renowned for being so full of ghosts that in 2005 Yvette Fielding and her Most Haunted team (including the girl who always thought that something ghostly was groping her bum) had to be called in. Whilst I cannot say that spending a day in a damp, Cornish prison was on the upper half of my bucket list (nor the lower half), when the opportunity to visit Bodmin Gaol arose during a visit to my parents in Devon, I simply couldn't refuse. A location steeped in tales of murder, execution, suffering and death; there was no way I could refuse my inner-macabre self this opportunity! So, after a little background reading followed by fueling up on some creamy coconut-custard porridge (see recipe below) my dad, mum, sister and I set off to see if there was any truth behind the ghostly legends of  Cornwall's most notorious prison. Was it really haunted? We had (well-under) 24 hours to find out...

A day in hell requires a breakfast from heaven.

Originally built in 1779, Bodmin Gaol ('Jail' in ye olden tongue) is situated in the the heart of Cornwall, in Bodmin... well no surprise there. It contains the UK's only working execution pit which during it's original run claimed 55 prisoner's lives (a fair amount of whom were imprisoned for crimes that would today be classed as petty offences e.g. begging). However, Bodmin Gaol was also the temporary home to some more unsavory characters including, the murderous Lightfoot brothers and the sadistic Selena Wadge who threw her own child down a well (what a cow). The area accessible to the public consisted of 5-6 stories both above and below ground and included holding cells, examples of hard labour utensils and the old kitchen - even criminals gotta eat! The whole vicinity was also full of information boards that told stories of the prisoners, local people, crimes and executions as well as covering loads about the building's history and architecture. Below are a few of my favorite things that I read about during our visit:

1. A Cornish man named Edward Clock was walking from the town of Wadebridge to St. Columb one night when he was attacked by what he thought was a satanic imp. The creature proceeded to wrap it's tail around his leg and attempt to drag him to hell. It later turned out that the 'imp' was in fact a monkey that had been trained by robbers to assist in mugging passers by. 
2. George Trethewey, a laboring man who grew tired of his wife actually sold her at a cattle market in St Austel. She sold for a total of four pence and afterwards the collector of the market tolls charged George a penny - the sum usually applied to the selling of a pig. Ouch.     
3. I always thought that the phrase 'Money for old rope' came from the labour sentence of Oakum picking but apparently before 1868 when hangmen had to supply their own rope, after a public hanging had been carried out, the executioner would proceed to cup up the rope into small pieces and sell it to members of the crowd. It was believed that the hangman's rope would bring good luck and even cure certain illness's - who needs the NHS eh?   
4. A typical diet of a Bod-minion (my new term for a Bodmin Gaol prisoner) would consist of: A breakfast of bread and gruel, a dinner of bread, potatoes and meat/suet pudding and a supper of bread and porridge/gruel. Yum. 
5. The weirdest thing I learnt during the whole day was that people actually choose to get married here. #whateverfloatsyourboat. 

I was also very impressed by the building's interior design...

At the rear of the property - a cosy single bedroom that could easily be converted into a study/office space for any budding home-business owner...

A spacious, south-facing garden that despite being walled off for maximum privacy still manages to draw in all the warmth of the Cornish sun...

Situated in the private courtyard, a fabulous area for entertaining guests - a definite place to impress the in-laws with.

As you can see, I was extremely taken with the style of Bodmin Gaol and am eagerly awaiting for the owners to respond to my offer of £5 and a packet of monster munch.

All in all, the day was really fun (in a creepy sense) and we learnt so much about the history of the prison and all of its inhabitant's tragic tales of crime, torture and retribution. Although at one point I thought I may have been having a paranormal encounter when I believed that something was touching my bum - it soon transcended that it was just the other side of my bum. Regardless, despite the lack of ghosts, I definitely think that this place is worth a visit. here's a link to the website if you want to check it out - http://bodmin.dwmclient.co.uk/. Finally, here is the recipe for my creamy coconut-custard porridge. I would like to think prison life would have at least been a little more exciting if this stuff had been on the menu at breakfast  ;). Have a great day and make sure you don't accidentally travel back in time to 18th century Cornwall and get arrested!

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup Alpro coconut milk with rice*
1 egg
1-2 tsp sweetener of choice (e.g. Xylitol, stevia, honey, maple syrup)
Optional - some desiccated coconut

Instructions:

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a saucepan over a medium-high heat.
Break up the yolk and mix everything together as it cooks.
After the porridge is piping hot and is at the desired consistency (I cook mine for around 3-5 minutes) remove from heat and place in a bowl. Top with some desiccated coconut if desired.
*If you don't have this type of milk, feel free to go all out with canned coconut milk (just use 1/4 cup of it) or use a plain milk and add in some coconut essence/flavoring.