An important difference between both prisons was the jailer. In Berwick prison there was only one jailer, however this jailer might as well of not been there as he owned a pub outside of the town so he only visited the jail every few days to give them a bit of bread and water. Also the jailer in Berwick prison was not paid by the government to do this job so it wasnt top of his priority list. In Jedburgh prison there was a govenor, the govenor had overall responsibility of the entire prison he also lived in the prison along with his wife who became the prisons matron. Also the prison employed a warden, keepers, and a gardener.
Because Berwick was situated in he town centre the prisoners were not able to get much exercise. And it was upto the jailer if they were allowed out of their cell at all. If the jailer felt like letting them have exercise then they were able to go out onto the roof of the jailer and walk around for a few minutes. On the other hand because of reforms set by the government Jedburgh prison had a garden in which the prisoners who had served in the prison for more than 1 month were allowed to spent time each day for exercise, but only one prisoner at a time.
In Berwick beacause there was little room to seperate the prisoners segregation was not a major issue. There was only enough space in order to segregate the debtors and the felons as in order to segregate all of the prisoners it would take up alot of space, space in which Berwick prison did not have enough of. Because reforming the prisoners was an aim of Jedburgh prison, segregation was a major issue. This was why this prison had to be built so big, so it was able to incorporate the segregation between the debtors, felons,women, men and children, Not only were the debtors and felons separated but the female prisoners and male prisoners were also separated with a wall along the coridoor so no contact could be made. Also the children of the female prisoners were allowed to stay in the same cells as their mothers so that they were separated from the older prisoners.Each prisoner were given their own individual cell to sleep and work in. This was supposed to help in reforming each prisoner so they could sit in solitary confinement a think about the crimes they commited and decide what they will do once they are able to leave prison.
However bad the conditions were in Berwick prison, the prisoners were still given food. But very basic food, which consisted of raw meat, potatoes, and bread and water. However each prisoner had to either be brought the food by family or friends or they would be provided with food by the jailer on the condition that they paid for it. However on hand Jedburgh prisoners did not have to pay for the food they were given and also it was of a much higher quality than the food the prisoners of Berwick recieved. For breakfast they were given porridge, for dinner broth and a piece of bread and for supper potatoes or more porridge. However once the new punishements were introduced into the prison such as the crank (in which the prisoners would have to turn a stiff handle several thousand times) in order to have their daily meals.
In the 18th century in Berwick used several differnet punishments on for their prisoners. One puinshment was being whipped. Inside the prisons there was a hook on one of the ceilings beams which the prisoners would be hooked onto a whipped. This would be done infront of all the other prisoners, as it would let them know what they would be faced with if they stepped out of line in the prison. There were also chains incorporated into each cell so that the prisoners could be chained up. In Jedburgh there were many different punishments. First of all was the silent system, each prisoners would sleep in their own individual cell and live in complete silence during the day. If any prisoner broke the silence rule then they would be punished by either flogging (being hit ) or being locked up in a cell in complete darkness for several days. Also each prisoner would wear a hood ova their faces when they were let out of their cells, so that they could not make any communication with the other prisoners.Each prisoner would have a number on their clothing which would be tell each prisoner apart. Another form of dicipline that Jedburgh prison used was the seperate system it was designed to help lead prisoners into moral reflection and redemption.
Berwick and Jedburgh prisons were very different in the ways they treated their prisoners this was mostly beacause of the centuries they were built in and the acts that were passed in between when Berwick prison was built and when Jedburgh prison was built. However despite the many differences between the two prison did have a similarity when it came to the segregation of the prisoners. Although Jedburgh prison could segregate its prisoners on a much larger scale than wat Berwick could, Berwick prison was still able to keep its debtors away from the felons.
