Tithe Barn was built in 1454 and is now a museum attached to the prison ‘recounting tales of murder, execution and prison escape’ and the prison officers club. Entry is by invitation and appointment. The museum has many interesting artefacts, items of torture, medical equipment, uniforms and strait jackets. Papers and photographs relating to Ronnie Kray and items used by John McVeigh in his escape in 1968 are on display along with a timeline of hangings and the crimes of serial killer Mary Ann Cotton.

​

Nelson Mandela: “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”