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Описание: This neighbourhood is full of nods to Charles Dickens. But the painting on the cabinet - by Morganico - celebrates the nearby children's playground, not the author or his fictional character. The alleyway - Little Dorrit Court - links Borough High Street to a primary school, a small park and playground. In Dickens' novel, the character Little Dorrit is not a child but Amy the twentytwo year old daughter of William Dorrit, who has been locked-up for debt for twentythree years in the Marshalsea prison. Dickens' father, John Dickens, - not a fictional character - was imprisoned there for debt when Charles Dickens was twelve. _________________________________ § Google Maps (accessed 23 February 2018) showed the site of the Marshalsea Prison, describing it as a "tourist attraction". It appears that the only remaining part of the prison building is a brick wall in Angel Alley. Even so, one person had given this "attraction" a five-star review. Posting that. "Although there is only a wall remaining of the old prison I was determined to follow Little Dorrit's daily walk from the prison to Covent Garden then in the evening before the curfew bell sounded would head home (she was born in the Marshalsea) cross old London Bridge. I found it a most inspiring experience and so many other interesting places nearby." § Link to Google Street view of the entry to Little Doritt Court from Borough High Street. § Wikipedia has an extensive entry about the Marshalsea Prison. It includes the following paragraph. (Linked to numbered external references.) "Run privately for profit, as were all English prisons until the 19th century, the Marshalsea looked like an Oxbridge college and functioned as an extortion racket.[3] Debtors in the 18th century who could afford the prison fees had access to a bar, shop and restaurant, and retained the crucial privilege of being allowed out during the day, which gave them a chance to earn money for their creditors. Everyone else was crammed into one of nine small rooms with dozens of others, possibly for years for the most modest of debts, which increased as unpaid prison fees accumulated.[4] The poorest faced starvation and, if they crossed the jailers, torture with skullcaps and thumbscrews. A parliamentary committee reported in 1729 that 300 inmates had starved to death within a three-month period, and that eight to ten were dying every 24 hours in the warmer weather."

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