
A penal treadmill (penal treadwheel or everlasting staircase) was a
treadwheel
A treadwheel, or treadmill, is a form of engine typically powered by humans. It may resemble a water wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference (treadmill), or by a human or animal standing ...
or
treadmill with steps set into two cast iron wheels. These drove a shaft that could be used to mill corn, pump water, or connect to a large fan for resistance.
Penal treadmills were used in
prisons
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...
during the 19th century in both Britain and the United States. In early
Victorian Britain the treadmill was used as a method of exerting hard labour, a form of punishment prescribed in the prisoner's sentence.
History
The prison treadwheel was introduced in 1818 by the British engineer Sir
William Cubitt
Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of windmil ...
(1785–1861) as a means of usefully occupying convicts in the prisons at Bury St Edmunds and
Brixton
Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...
. There had been simple two-person treadmills in prisons before, used for raising water and grain preparation; these were on a large scale and for a different purpose. Cubitt observed prisoners lying around in idleness and opined that it was better for "reforming offenders by teaching them habits of industry." It was intended to be pointless and to punish; straps and weights provided resistance to the motion. Later, when prison philosophy changed, using the energy to power pumps and corn mills became acceptable. 44 prisons in England adopted this form of hard labour to grind grain. Others remained "grinding the wind".
By the
Prison Act 1865, every male prisoner over 16 sentenced to
hard labour
Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...
had to spend at least three months of his sentence in Labour Order. This consisted primarily of the treadmill or, as an alternative, the
crank machine. This consisted of a small wheel, like the wheel of a
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
, and a handle turned by the prisoner made it revolve in a box partially filled with gravel.
In 1895, there were 39 treadmills and 29 cranks in English prisons, which had diminished to 13 and 5, respectively, in 1901. The use of treadwheels was abolished in Britain in 1902 by the
Prison Act 1898.
America adopted the treadwheel in 1822, installing one in
Bellevue Hospital in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. A second was erected in 1823 for the cost of $3000 at the
Old Newgate Prison in
East Granby, Connecticut. Only four US prisons ever built treadwheels, and three of those quickly abandoned them.
Description
The prison treadwheel was a long wooden cylinder with metal framing. It was initially about in diameter. On the exterior of the cylinder were wooden steps about apart. As the prisoner put his weight on the step it depressed the wheel, and he was forced to step onto the step above; it was an "everlasting staircase". There would be 18 to 25 positions on the wheel, each separated by a wooden partition so each prisoner had no contact with the adjacent prisoner and saw only the wall in front. They walked in silence for six hours a day, taking 15 minutes on the wheel followed by a 5-minute break.
In popular culture
On their 1977 album ''
Storm Force Ten'', folk-rock band
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...
included an English folk song called "The Treadmill Song" describing a prisoner's lot at hard labour, including the treadmill.
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
/ref> In Charles Dickens' novel ''A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...
'' Ebenezer Scrooge references the treadmill, which he describes as "useful", and in his novel ''Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
'' the lawyer Mr. Tulkinghorn threatens Hortense with imprisonment with treadmills "for women". The 1997 film ''Wilde'' shows Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
put on the treadmill as part of his hard labour punishment.
In 1959 it was mentioned by Clarice M. Carr in his '' Scandal at High Chimneys'' as part of the first act of "It is never too late to mend".
References
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{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017
Penal labour
Animal engines