During the Victorian Era, British engineer Sir William Cubitt designed the “treadmill” to implement into prisons. The device was constructed of wooden steps around a cylindrical frame; the punishment could handle up to forty convicts at one time. The treadmill would rotate causing the convicts to step along a series of planks. Occasionally the power from these devices would be used to grind corn or pump water; however, sometimes the treadmill was strictly used for no purpose other than punishment. Executions of the prisoners were still public at the time; Charles Dickens, along with 30,000 other people, watched the execution of two notorious murders in 1849. Also, during the Victorian times, the British followed "common law" meaning the decisions of court cases were based on previous rulings; they felt that this style of governing added to the "rugged English character" (British Library).

In Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge makes a comment questioning if there are no more treadmills. He says this towards the beginning of the novella before meeting the spirits. The setting of the story is in Victorian England, so there were two main prisons in the country.

Works Cited

British Library, https://www.bl.uk/victorian-britain/articles/victorian-prisons-and-punis....

“Treadwheel.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/treadwheel.