hall, during which the old Mayor's hall in Blue Boar Lane was used as a court of justice. An interesting report will be found in the Calendar of Patent Rolls of Edward III. 1330-1334, of a Commission granted April 1st, 1332, "on petition of the commonalty of the county of Leicester," which accounts for this delay. It appears that "divers sums of money" had been assessed, for the purpose of building a shirehall, on the townships of the county, "and collectors of the same appointed; but that, although the timber of the hall had been got together out of such assessment, the hall itself was still without a roof and unfinished, because the collectors had kept a great part of the money raised in their own hands." Richard of Egebaston and Robert of Gadesby were therefore appointed" to audit the accounts of the said collectors, to distrain for all arrears, and to complete the work." The names of the delinquent collectors are not disclosed.
The Shirehall appears to have adjoined the garden of St. John's Hospital, for in the Corpus Christi Guild's rental for 1494-5 is a rent "pro uno gardino juxta le Shirehall nuper Sancti Johannis Baptistae Leycestriae"; and in the 17th century a Leicester garden was known as "the Shirehall close." King Edward's prison lay close to the Shirehall, probably north of the Hospital. How long it continued in use is uncertain, but towards the close of the 16th century it seems to have been replaced by another building, erected lower down the old High Street immediately south of Free School Lane. But the new gaol was little better than the old. A prisoner who was interned there in 1690 described it as "a low, moist dungeon"; and, nearly a hundred years later, John Howard, the philanthropist, visited it twice, and gave a lamentable account of its condition. The debtors' sick-ward was actually in the cellar, a dungeon 2912 feet by 9, and 6 ft. 8 in. high, down seven steps, and damp, with two windows, the largest about 15 inches square. The day and night rooms of the felons were close and offensive dungeons, from 5 to 7 steps underground. It is not surprising that Howard condemned this accommodation as "not convenient or healthy." Owing mainly, no doubt, to his representa-
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