Perhaps the most well-known inmate of the prison was Oscar Wilde who resided here in C.3.3 from 1895-1897 after being convicted of acts of gross indecency. Wilde knew members of the Palmer family; he had been given a tour of the factory and his name appears in the visitor’s book. The prison at that time overlooked the factory and Wilde must have reflected on those days during his stay. He was fond of the company’s Ginger Nuts and it is said these were occasionally smuggled in to him by a friendly warder. After being released Wilde wrote about his experience at Reading in ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’. This artwork by Banksy of an escaping prisoner appeared in the early hours of 1 March 2021 and represents an escaping prisoner and is allegedly supposed to be of Oscar Wilde.
Reading prison had a treadmill. ‘Reading was one of the first prisons to install this device for harnessing the energies of prisoners sentenced to undergo hard labour. Unlike the treadwheel which was later to be installed in most of the prisons throughout the country, the Reading treadmill was a fully productive flour mill operated by prisoner power.
It was erected by Messrs Penn, Millwrights of Greenwich, at a cost of £1,700. The motive power for the millstones and other machinery was provided by the efforts of a team of 32 prisoners ‘climbing’ a wooden barrel upon which were steps spaced about 7 inches apart. It was estimated by the authorities that during the course of a working day of ten hours, each man would climb this endless staircase to the equivalent of 13,300 ft.
The wheels were housed in a two-storey building around 33ft in length and divided into four compartments for ease of control of the prisoners. The mill had three floors. At ground level was the miller’s office, above was the machinery and the dressing floor, whilst the upper storey provided storage for grain and flour.
The mill was brought into use on Friday 15th November 1822. The novel form of employment was by no means welcomed by the prisoners who by midday on the following Monday were in a state of mutiny demanding better provisions and the issue of leather shoes in place of their usual wooden soled footwear, failing which they would refuse to perform.
Many devices were used by the prisoners to avoid having to do their turn on the treadwheel, from prompting an upset stomach by swallowing soap, to aggravating wounds. Sometimes it was found that there were not enough prisoners to work the device and therefore there was not enough flour to make bread for the inmates, so prisoners from nearby Abingdon Gaol were brought over to keep up the supply of flour.
The County Justices in 1828 entered into a contract with Mr. Samuel Slaughter, a local baker and corn merchant. It was agreed that upon Slaughter making available sufficient grain to keep the mill in constant use it would be ground and dressed for him at the favourable rate of 11 shillings per load of wheat; 10 shillings for barley, peas and beans. It was further agreed that all flour for use in the prison would be purchased from him. The mill was managed by the miller, a Mr. Cordery, who was paid a weekly wage of a guinea (£1 plus 1 shilling). He was also the baker and responsible for keeping the prison supplied with bread.
In the same year, 1828, Cubitt was called in to supervise the installation of a set of three throw lift pumps to improve water supply to the various parts of the prison. These could be worked by four to ten men operating a crank, or alternatively, by coupling to the machinery of the treadmill. The crank was also a form of punishment.
By 1834 it was decided the mill was no longer profitable, partly due to fraudulent accounting on the part of the governor, but also due to the terms of Slaughter’s contract. It was suggested that the treadwheel should be modified by disconnecting the mill machinery and the substitution of a friction brake to convert it to the orthodox punitive apparatus. This, however, did not work and only when it was reconnected to the machinery of the mill, which acted as a form of flywheel, was the barrel able to rotate smoothly once again.
In this way the treadwheel continued to operate until 1841 when the site was cleared to make way for the new county gaol. When offered for sale by public auction, the treadwheel and the remaining fittings were sold for the modest sum of £61, the sale of its scrap iron content.’ Mildred Cookson Prison Treadmills
