"...must be well acquainted with mode of working the tread mill."
Advertisement dated 1827 for a "turnkey" or warder at Ruthin Gaol. (Denbighshire Record Office: QSD/AG/1/55).
Elevation of the Treadmill at Gloucester County Prison, 1835.
"reports very favourably of the conduct
of the prisoners and states that he cannot overlook the good effects produced
by the salutary discipline of the tread mill... the prisoners are subject
and accustomed to a fixed and certain degree of labour and restraint,
by which they become more subdued and tractable."
(Denbighshire Record Office: QSD/AG/1/79.)
Often prisoners "climbed" the equivalent of 12,000 feet a day. The manpower they supplied was used to pump the prison's water supply.
Other "airing ground" activities included chopping wood or breaking limestone rocks. The small pieces were used to make road surfaces or drainage.