The Pont-l'Évêque Prison, also known as Joyeuse Prison, is a building constructed in the early 19th century in Pont-l'Évêque, in the French department of Calvados in the Normandy region. It is a rare example in France of a prison building that has been preserved after closure, the usual fate being demolition or conversion.
The building was used for the incarceration of prisoners from its commissioning at the end of the first quarter of the 19th century until its closure in the 1950s, following a scandal that tarnished the judicial institution and was the pretext for a popular comedy in the same decade starring Michel Simon, which immortalized the place.
After several decades of neglect, the building was bought by the commune in the early 2000s, and underwent a careful restoration and a heritage project considered a success, and a particularly rare one at that. At the beginning of the 21st century, the building's state of preservation is "an exceptional testimony to the revival of prison architecture in the early 19th century" and, according to J.-F. Alonzo, a lecturer at the École nationale d'administration pénitentiaire, "a vestige of a past both near and far".
Location The former prison is located behind the courthouse in Pont-l'Évêque, halfway between Deauville and Lisieux, at n° 5 of the Eugène-Pian street.. This street runs transversely to Vicomté's street and, above all, Saint-Michel street, the urban section of the former RN 175, now the D675.
The prison is located in the commune's historic center, on the grounds of the former Dominican convent, of which only a 17th-century timber-framed building remains..
Construction and history in the 19th century The prison was built after the judicial reforms of the French Revolution and Empire, and at a time when a debate was taking place on places of deprivation of liberty. The prison was used for 130 years, from 1823 to 1953.
Creation
The French Revolution put an end to corporal punishments such as the pillory, and the rule became imprisonment, coexisting withÀ Pont-L’Évêque, une prison du temps des philanthropes (Jean-Claude Vimont) sur le site criminocorpus. the death penalty and penal labour. The number of prisons was reduced from 1,000 to 400, and the penitentiary administration was set up with different levels of prisons controlled by prefects.
In 1810, the Penal Code of 1810 was promulgated, reintroducing life imprisonment and hot branding. A sum of 11 million francs was earmarked for the restoration or replacement of "insalubrious and dilapidated gaols from the Ancien Régime", but this work was not carried out due to the Russian campaign. An ordinance of September 9, 1814, at the start of the Restoration, spoke of prison reform and the role of religion and work in the prison world. In 1818, Interior Minister Joseph-Henri-Joachim Lainé submitted a report to the King on the situation of hospices, foundlings, lunatics, beggars and prisons. The following year, the Société royale pour l'amélioration des prisons (Royal Society for the Improvement of Prisons) was founded, enabling work to be carried out in over 270 prisons across the country. In 1819, the new Minister of the Interior, Élie Decazes, commissioned a wide-ranging survey of the state of prisons in Calvados, which proved unsatisfactory: with the exception of Vire, they were described as "insalubrious and inadequate". Other works and reports were published by Louis René Villermé, Jean-Pierre Danjou and François Barbé-Marbois. The latter wrote a report on the state of prisons in Calvados, Eure, Manche and Seine-Inférieure, in which he described the Pont-l'Évêque building as the "most hideous" prison. The Société de la morale chrétienne also played a role in the movement.
The construction of the Pont-l'Évêque prison thus took place at a time when the desire for in-depth reform of the French prison system was taking shape, and it was "one of the essential links in the history of French prison architecture", preceding the "cell fever of the July Monarchy". Crime rates in Basse-Normandie were very high, at around 20 per 100,000 around 1825, and half that again at the beginning of the 20th century.
Building
Before the prison was built, the commune did not own one. Part of the house belonging to a private individual, Sieur Labbey, was used as a prison. It has a capacity of 76 people and, according to the mayor, receives an average of 900 people a year. According to a report by Prefect Charles Ambroise de Caffarelli du Falga, the owner was paid 500 francs in rent. Prisoners were not segregated by offence or even by sex, except at night for the latter category. They could not work, and promiscuity reigned. The number of inmates often exceeded the 76-place capacity, with some months having 86 or even 90 occupants, and the facility was "neither safe [...] nor healthy". In his report, Caffarelli indicated that 50,000 francs were needed for a new facility.
After considering converting an existing building in the commune, such as the Dominican convent or the corn market, it was decided to build a new one, to avoid using a fragile timber-framed building, especially in the event of fire.
Like its neighbor building, the Pont-l'Évêque courthouse, the prison was built on the site of parts of the Dominican convent closed in 1792, in particular the conventual courtyards and certain buildings of the religious institution. The courthouse, for its part, was built on the site of the former church of the same institution.
Construction of the prison and courthouse was ordered by imperial decree on May 25, 1811 or May 15, 1811; the decree provided for a new prison in Falaise in addition to the one in Pont-l'Évêque. Plans had to be submitted by September 1, 1812, and construction of the prison building was completed in 1823, with that of the courthouse completed in 1828.
Construction was led by Jean-Baptiste Philippe Harou (Romain) born in Bernay in 1761 and died in 1822. It was completed by his son Romain Harou. The latter was awarded the second Grand Prix d'Architecture in 1788, and played an important role in cultural policy during the French Revolution. The company responsible for the work was based in Le Havre.
Architecture The architect designed a beautiful building that reflected in stone the progress made in thinking about prisons, even if he had not foreseen everything and had to skilfully integrate changes into his project as it progressed.
Architecture based on philanthropic concepts
The edifice was built of stone, brick and flint, giving it "a beautiful polychrome appearance". The architecture was neo-classical, and the façades were carefully designed. The architect demonstrated "aesthetic care and [...] refinement": the building was "functional in its plan, rhythmically symmetrical, aesthetically pleasing in its appearance". Harou-Romain drew his inspiration from the nearby 17th-century Viscounty of Auge building, which also features polychromy due to the use of different building materials.
The base is a checkerboard of flint and stone, while the upper floors are made of brick with stone quoins and frames. A granite staircase leads to the south façade of the building, closest to the courthouse. The center of the north façade is occupied by a stone half-tower housing the head warden's lodgings. This tower also marks the separation between the men's side and the side reserved for women and children. The roof slope is shallow.
The building's layout was based on "philanthropic concerns", with a symmetrical organization and a "concern [...] for classification, order, education and religion, with assigned quarters". The building was built according to symmetrical principles: the sexes were separated, the chapel was centrally located, surveillance was constant and inmates had visiting rooms. According to the philanthropic principles embodied in the prison's architecture, hygiene was to be improved and chains abolished, to enable prisoners to be redeemed through religion and education.
Internal layout of the building
The prison was initially designed to accommodate around 40 inmates. The genders were separated on the two floors with shared cells. The courtyard was also divided in two, for each gender, and surrounded the building on three sides. Each floor has four 25 m² collective cells; inmates are segregated according to gender and the legal status of their situation. The prison has visiting rooms and offices, as well as staff accommodation, including that of the head warden, on two floors of the half-tower.
At the center of the building there are a skylight and a chapel. This religious space was added after the fact: it does not exist on the original plans supplied by Harou-Romain, and the layout under the skylight was designed to "play on religious symbolism". Religious services can be attended from the landings. In 1868, a library of 112 books was available to prisoners.
The dungeons are at the base of the building, and the prison has solitary confinement cells. The prison retains some graffiti that have not been studied.
Philanthropic theories put to the test in prison Developed according to philanthropic theories, the prison soon became a place of daily hardship and security problems. Prisoners came mainly from the poorer classes and were often incarcerated for minor offenses. Prison life was also marked by inequality of treatment, with the application of paid supplements, improving conditions for those with means but leaving others in more than precarious conditions.
Premises and prison staff issues The prison was under the supervision of the Ministries of the Interior and Justice. Maintenance was carried out by the commune, then by the Departmental Council of Calvados. A commission comprising the mayor, the sub-prefect, a doctor, a chaplain and local notables was responsible for overseeing the establishment.
A set of internal rules governed community life, but they seem to have been lost and are no longer known. The principles underlying the building's construction soon came up against a difficult day-to-day reality: the prison had problems with the upkeep of its premises, lighting, heating and inadequate sanitary facilities, leading to reports of poor hygiene that were exacerbated by overcrowding over the years. In the mid-19th century, an inspection by the prison administration severely criticized the building. The work requested around 1870 was even more extensive, affecting both sanitary conditions and the reception of prisoners and visitors, as well as the state of the building in general. Subsequently, "the reports became [even] more alarming". In addition, inmates were billed for any damage to the premises or equipment.
The staff employed was both under-qualified and insufficient in number. Three wardens were responsible for supervising the inmates. The head guard was responsible for the administration of the facility and personnel management, as well as all aspects of day-to-day life, while his wife acted as janitor for the women and children. There was only one "ordinary janitor". The inspection reports painted a picture of some of the staff members, who were not all without qualities, even if the number of staff was insufficient, especially as administrative work tended to increase over the years.