The Bridewell closed in 1794 and its functions were taken over by the Coldbath Fields Prison at Mount Pleasant.

[6] On 13 December 1867 its exercise yard was the target of a gunpowder explosion instigated by members of the Fenian Society in an attempt to aid the escape of Ricard O'Sullivan Burke, an arms supplier to the Fenians.

[7] The blast killed twelve bystanders and wounded 120 in Corporation Row; and the event became known as the "Clerkenwell Outrage".

The 9,000 sq ft[9] vaults beneath, dating from the prison era, and now known as the "Clerkenwell Catacombs", remained.

They were reopened as air-raid shelters during the Blitz, and are occasionally opened, for instance during Clerkenwell Design Week.