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Icy Sedgwick

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Just How Bad were the Prisons of the Doge’s Palace?

October 18, 2025 by Icy Sedgwick Leave a Comment

Did you know the Doge's Palace in Venice boasts three different prisons? And legendary lover Casanova escaped from one of them?

The Palazzo Ducale dominates the view as your vaporetto approaches the San Marco stop. The huge building is an example of Venetian Gothic architecture, all pointed arches and quatrefoils. It’s hard to believe that two prisons lie within its bulk, with a third inside the pristine white building alongside it. Tourists might be the only […]

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Filed Under: Folklore Tagged With: #FolkloreThursday, fearsome buildings, folklore, prison

Newgate Prison: Novels, Escapees, and Dreadful Conditions

October 11, 2025 by Icy Sedgwick 4 Comments

Newgate Prison looms large in London history. How did it get such a dreadful reputation and how did popular culture depict it?

If you’ve ever read any Charles Dickens novels, especially Great Expectations, then you’ll have run into Newgate Prison. The hulking, notorious jail loomed large in London’s history before its demolition in 1902. While accurate execution statistics are difficult to find, there’s a suggestion that over 1000 people faced capital punishment at the prison between 1790 […]

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Filed Under: Folklore Tagged With: #FolkloreThursday, fearsome buildings, folklore, london, prison

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Who is Icy Sedgwick?

icy sedgwick

Icy is a folklore blogger and host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast. She is based in the north east of England, where she was born and raised amid the folk tales and legends of Tyneside and Northumberland. Icy is fascinated by history, cinema, art, and the occult, and griffins will always be her favourite mythical beast. She also writes dark fantasy novellas, Gothic short stories and the occasional weird Western, and she holds a PhD in Film Studies!

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