York Castle prison. At the end of the seventeenth century it was decided to build a prison inside the bailey of York Castle and work commenced on a new County Gaol which opened in 1705, having taken four years to build. This building became known as the Debtor's prison which was described by Daniel Defoe as "the most stately and complete prison of any in the Kingdom, if not in Europe, kept as neat within side as it is noble without". It is doubtful whether the inmates shared Defoe's enthusiasm however. A courthouse was added next door to it on one side in 1737 and the Female Prison on the other side in 1783. All these fine buildings remain, indeed the court still functions as York Crown Court. The two prisons closed at the end of the nineteenth century and were converted into the Castle Museum which opened in 1938 and which is nowadays a really excellent visitor attraction. The complete Victorian condemned cell can be viewed. Executions at York....