Human beings are thrill-seeking animals. Some people go bungee jumping and parachuting across thousands of mountains and rivers, and some people explore virgin forests on foot. This time, a prison where several supernatural events happened was transformed into a luxury hotel, and someone specially spent money to buy an immersive “prison experience”.
Milestone 01 of “Prison Reform”
The road to rebirth after changing times
In the history of British prisons, Bodmin Prison is a special existence. Its establishment coincided with the beginning of prison reform in England in the 18th century. Prior to this, the British prison system was very different from modern times, consisting of prisons for serious criminals, debtors’ prisons and reformatory schools. The first two institutions, in particular, were said to be “full of darkness, disease, and death,” with very high rates of illness and death among those imprisoned for various reasons. It is even more difficult for people today to imagine that there were public and chartered prisons in the UK before. Except for the prisons in London where serious criminals are held, most of the local prisons are private in nature. As an industry, prisons can even be inherited as inheritance. Therefore, many prisons have a “profit” goal. In these places, jailers do not receive salaries from the government, and their income mainly comes from the fees paid by prisoners. Prisoners with money can live in suites and keep pets, while prisoners without money cannot even get basic food and clothing. The prison environment can only be described as dark and depraved.
Around the 18th century, it was the transition period of British prisons. Howard, the father of “prison reform”, played a major role in it. Through more than ten years of visits and records, he exposed the darkness of British prisons to broad daylight, which aroused widespread concern. focus on. It is against this backdrop that Bodmin Prison was established. This prison was remodeled by a team of military engineers hundreds of years ago. At that time, it had independent cells. You must know that it is difficult for many prisons to do this today.
Hundreds of years ago, Bodmin Prison was special and advanced. The settings and regulations in the prison were different from other old prisons at that time. Not only is there separate areas for men and women in the prison, the living and working environment for prisoners is also bright and airy, and hot water is also provided so that prisoners here can take a warm bath every three months. It is such a reformative construction that makes Bodmin Prison a new model for prisons in England. Here is the concentration of death row inmates, and many death row inmates end their sinful lives in this prison.
In 1927, Bodmin Prison officially ended its mission as a prison. In the past 100 years, this prison has witnessed the loss of many fresh lives. This is a place full of “blood”, so people did not take any action after the place was deserted, but let this prison become silent and turned into ruins.
It didn’t go well at the beginning. After all, Bodmin Prison also has the title of “one of the most haunted prisons in Britain”. Many people said that they saw or photographed ghosts here. As a result, the building has been idle for a long time, and no one is willing to take over. Until five or six years ago, the Cornwall County Council of England announced that Bodmin Prison would be taken over by a well-known tourist attraction design company, Sarna International Design, and specified that Sarna International Design Company would take over Bodmin Prison. The prison was turned into a scenic spot, and the ruins ushered in a second turning point in life.
At first, the architects decided that the prison was not suitable for conversion into a hotel. Because the windows of the prison are small, the stone walls are also damp after years, and most of the roof structure is lost. The building is directly exposed to the outdoors and covered by branches and leaves. Under the erosion of time, the internal walls of the building have also been damaged to varying degrees. But in the end, the “church-like” atrium in the main structure still impressed the architects. After discussion, the experts decided to retain nearly 85% of the original architecture of Bodmin Prison and modernize the rest of the prison rooms. This modern style and The interweaving of “pure prison” style has become a major selling point of the hotel after renovation.
The long atrium is replaced with a metal walkway, and the sloping skylight is also given a new look. 214 pieces of transparent glass bring the original damp and dark prison to light; the gallery and interactive exhibitions reflecting the history of the prison add more thrills and excitement to visitors A unique element; more than seventy rooms renovated from prison cells, each with its own unique style, attracts thrill-seeking tourists to stay.
The luxury rooms in the hotel are transformed from multiple prison cells, but still retain the prison’s original grating windows, weathered stone walls with inmate graffiti and special ceilings. While the original cell doors remain on the walls as decoration, the new doors give visitors a sense of security while staying in the hotel.
Execution Place of Famous Executioners 02
‘Gently’ maintaining the dignity of the dead
Bodmin Gaol was once the execution site of the famous executioner – Henri Albert Pierre. He has been in this profession for 25 years and has executed dozens of death row prisoners in Bodmin Prison. He is not as ruthless as the executioner imagined by others, and will “gently” maintain the dignity of the dead during execution.
According to legend, at the age of 11 Pierre decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and uncle as an executioner. Pierre Jr. believed that what his father and uncle did was very sacred, and he said this: “This profession needs a steady person with kind hands like my father and uncle Tom.”
At the age of 27, Pierre officially started his career as an assistant execution officer, mainly responsible for following prisoners to the scaffold, tying their legs together, and retreating from the trapdoor before the chief executioner carried out the execution . It was not until the age of 36 that Pierre finally became the number one executioner. As one of Britain’s busiest “official executioners”, he travels across the country to get his job done. Over the two decades he’s been in the job, he’s been speculated to have hanged hundreds of people, including those convicted of war crimes and espionage. And Pierre’s highest record of hanging was to end the lives of 13 prisoners in one day.
Many notorious murderers were executed by Pierre, but he always felt that these prisoners had paid the price for what they did, and he needed to give them enough respect in the last moments of their lives to let them Keep the “dignity of death”.
Pierre has a special “death note” in his hand, which records the weight, height, and length of the rope of each prisoner during execution, in order to calculate the fastest death time of each prisoner. The size of the death row’s neck is also one of Pierre’s key considerations. He will record the details of the prisoner’s neck in detail next to the personal information of the prisoner, and then adjust the length of the rope required for quick execution according to this feature—— The length of the rope has a great influence on the entire execution work. If the rope is too long, the prisoner may have to go through the pain of beheading twice.
In addition, as an executioner, Pierre would not tolerate any obscene remarks or jokes about corpses in his daily life. He just stubbornly used the fastest, most humane and cleanest method to execute the death penalty. It is such a pure and persistent person that makes Bodmin Prison different.
Luxurious “Pure Prison Wind” Hotel 03
A real “prison” experience through time
If you love adventure and exciting stories, there are six stories of “cold cells” in this majestic granite building, as well as life-size prisoner models in the corners, as well as the crimes and terrible punishments of those crimes. The story will definitely satisfy you.
Visitors who book the Bodmin Prison Hotel can choose a brand new play experience project, which is to be “taken away” from the prison exhibition hall and experience “prison” in real. Visitors will be taken away from dark crime scenes or caves by staff, passing through many simulated scenes, such as coastlines, swamps, Victorian villages where criminals were rampant, and more. In addition, participants also need to avoid robbers along the way before finally arriving at the Bodmin Trial Court to “be judged”.
After being sentenced to prison, tourists will follow the “jailor” through a “dark trail”, which combines the latest technology and dramatic effects; they can also “experience” the rat-infested cells in Bodmin Prison and feel Disease, death, and forced labor endured by prisoners hundreds of years ago.
If you feel uncomfortable during the whole experience, participants can complete the understanding of the entire prison history at double speed through a sprint visit. Of course, most tourists will still choose to learn about the stories slowly-the prisons hundreds of years ago are completely different from the prisons in today’s society. Some people were imprisoned for minor crimes and suffered. This kind of comparison brings a sense of shock to the experiencer, and the real history makes people feel that the current happiness is more real.
The museum-like displays at the Bodmin Gaol Hotel are fascinating. At this moment, people are at the same frequency as a certain period of experience in history, and feel the appearance of the past world at the existing time node. The experiencers believe that this prison renovation plan, which cost more than 30 million yuan, is totally worth the money.
After exploring the sights, stay at the Bodmin Gaol Hotel and enjoy the comforts of modern hotel services. Tourists who have completed the “imprisonment” process officially step into the hotel lobby and will be warmly received by the service staff. The space of the entire hall was narrowed by the architect’s skillful hand, which further highlights the magnificence of the church-like atrium. The glass ceiling fills the entire hotel atrium with natural light. The highly restored atrium and the restored metal walkway are harmoniously matched and full of beauty.
Of course, today’s hotel rooms don’t have rats scurrying around either. Although the design of Bodmin Prison Hotel retains the layout of the original cell, it has made many adjustments to details and comfort on this basis, creating a luxurious and comfortable space that is more suitable for modern people. Guests can enjoy a high-standard luxury hotel experience while feeling the long history of the prison.
The interior design of the entire hotel space pays tribute to the Principality of Cornwall, adopting its classic color matching, echoing the sense of history, but also incorporating a luxurious style, which is a strong stroke of the interweaving of historical tradition and modern luxury. The prison’s former administration building has also been completely refurbished, and what used to be the prison chapel is now a chic restaurant. At the same time, the hotel also has a cocktail bar, a gym and a coffee shop. These things, which were completely out of reach of the prisoners at that time, can be easily owned by the current tourists in the “prison” hotel.
For human beings, there are always many mysterious and unknown things in this world, which may be the legendary history of thousands of years in the past, or it may be a special field that cannot be solved by the existing human beings, but we might as well be bold, to understand and try, to go Watch the transformation from a prison to a hotel, and watch the lives of many prisoners, so as to live your own life well.
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