The Clink was a notorious London prison, operating from about the 1100s to the 1700s. Although the Prison no longer exists, there is a Clink Museum on the foundations of the original jail. Some say the Clink got its name from the sounds of all of the irons and chains of its prisoners. The expression "in the clink" to describe being in jail came from the name of this infamous prison.

The Clink held both male and female criminals who were locked up for a variety of offenses during Shakespeare's time. These included debt, adultery, and recusancy, meaning they were simply not following the government's religious rules.  

Prisoners had hard and terrible lives in the Clink. The jailers were underpaid and often resorted to taking bribes from prisoners to make money. Prisoners could therefore pay the guards for better cell conditions or even food. Those who did not have money would often beg through the grates from passersby.  

In 1780, the Clink was burned down by rioters and it was never rebuilt. Now if you find yourself "in the clink", you're just in a museum looking at wax prisoners who aren't actually suffering very much at all.

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Text: Nidia Medina & Ewen Ku