Newgate was rebuilt under the Act 7 Geo. III, c.37 (1767) and the first stone was laid by Alderman Beckford on 31 May 1770. It was still incomplete when the old gaol was burnt to the ground in the Gordon riots of 1780 and there are contract drawings in the Dance collection dated as late as 1783. On 9 December in that year the first execution took place within the new building.

The following catalogue describes the twenty-three items relating to Newgate in the Soane Museum. Only the size and not the scale of the drawings is given, no standard scales being used.