Millbank Penitentiary 1829 - Public domain historic place engraving

Millbank Penitentiary, 1829 engraving.
Millbank Penitentiary, conceived by progressive thinkers and intended to be a model prison, was one of the largest in Europe. Built on a marshy site, it sank and had partly to be rebuilt on an innovative concrete raft by architect Sir Robert Smirke. This scene shows the entrance; the River Thames is behind the viewer. Heavy goods traffic moves along the road - today, London's Millbank - an embankment by Smirke. The men moving heavy blocks with crowbars are possibly intended to be those building the embankment, though that was some years before the date of publication of the engraving.