22 DECEMBER 1967, Page 10

A hundred years ago

From the 'Spectator', 21 December 1867—The topic of the week has been the . . . massacre in Clerkenwell.. . . A barrel on a truck placed under the wall of the House of Detention . . . exploded, levelling the wall for some sixty feet, driving in the bricks like a shower of grape over the exer- cising yard, blowing out two of the houses on the opposite side of the lane, shattering every other house more or less, and destroying windows or panes of glass . . . in nearly 600 houses. Men, women, and children were wounded in scores, either by the explosion or the fall of the buildings. The number carried to hospital is sixty, and seven are already reported dead.