One of the functional spaces now can a glimpse of within the former Supreme Court in its reincarnation as a wing of the National Gallery Singapore, are the two prisoner cells. Once part of what I often refer to as the caged passageway – a unseen network of spaces under the courtrooms through which defendants in criminal cases could be bought for their court appearances with a minimum of fuss and away from public spotlight, the cells are the most visible of the parts of this network that are still with us today.
The Holding Cells today – a popular spot for a photograph to be taken.
Much of it, including interview rooms and office spaces arranged around the cells, have since been converted. Part of a corridor, I am told, and the two cells – once part of a row of twelve, are all that is left today to remind us of the unseen passageway. Now a popular spot to have a photograph taken at, the two cells are now the unseen passageway’s most visible part, serving to remind us of the building and its short but eventful history.
The caged passageway seen during the post-war war crimes trials (source: Imperial War Museums © IWM (IND 4999).
Photographs of the “caged passageway” taken in 2010
The entrance – the steel doors opened up to the service road being the courthouse and ii was through them that vehicles ferrying defendants from prison to the Supreme Court entered.
Entry to an office space.
Another office space.
A filing cabinet.
A caged stairway.
The row of cells – there would have been twelve such cells.
Inside a cell.
The WC inside the cell.
The passageway leading to the courtrooms.
The stairway up to a courtroom, entry to which was through a trapdoor (which can still be seen in their closed positions) placed behind the dock.
Filed under: Architecture, Architecture, Civic District, Museums, National Gallery Singapore, National Mounments, Photography, Singapore
