Durham Prison
Place of detention for conscientious objectors
Type: Type 0
The following is an extract from an account by George Horwill. He was tried before a Lichfield court martial in May 1916. The charge was disobeying an order to get undressed for a medical examination. George produced a witness to testify that he was still a civilian at the time but the president of the court refused to accept the testimony. (Birmingham Daily Post 22 May 1916) The following account is to be found at the Carlisle Record Office (DMAR 39). A note is written at the top of the document to indicate that George Horwill was writing about Durham Prison.
“The effect of prison life is immediate. The sudden change from an active physical and mental life to the prison cell involves at first almost complete stagnation of mind and body. The task of stitching mail bags, requiring as it does nothing but a mere mechanical movement, fails to occupy the mind, and becomes a monotonous ten hours drudge; the educational facilities, limited to one book for the first month, provides mental activity for a few hours at most; the cell, being but the size of a large dog kennel, with its dreary whitewashed walls, increases the stagnation of the mind. Life seems to become quite suddenly, a desolate blank. The communion of soul with soul which is felt in the fellowship of friends between whom there exists a spiritual affinity, is severed. The soul is suddenly transplanted, and like a plant it droops in its new environment, unable to absorb its accustomed nourishment.”
Civil Parish: Durham Elvet
Contributed by Durham County Record Office
