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Following pressure from reformers who learned that the women's quarters were too small and did not contain their own latrines - obliging women to walk through the men's quarters to reach one - officials added a separate tower and chamber for female prisoners in 1406. Some Londoners bequeathed their estates to repair the prison. The building was collapsing and decaying, and many prisoners were dying from the close quarters, overcrowding, rampant disease, and bad sanitary conditions. Indeed, one year, 22 prisoners died from "gaol fever".

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