In the clink

Possibly the oldest prison in England, The Clink was located in London's Southwark district, for many years an extremely unsavory part of the city.

The prision was originally used for religious prisoners sentenced by the court of the Bishop of Winchester, and probably got its name from the 'clink' sound of metal on metal.
 

By the seventeenth century the prison had become a local jail for debtors, heretics and other offenders (both male and female). The prision was in continuous use from 1151 through 1780 when it was burned in a riot.

It was not rebuilt after the 1780 fire, and the modern building on the site is a recreation in the basement of a former warehouse.

Clink came to mean any prison or prison cell, and to be 'in the Clink' meant to be in prison.

Sarge D