Post by Dave on Aug 17, 2021 17:25:46 GMT
Shepton Mallet prison 17th August 2021
Lyn has a real fascination with prisons and more concerning murder programmes and it’s a wonder I sleep so well at nights lol. By chance last week I found out about HMP Shepton Mallet now being a tourist attraction and knew it was the perfect place to take her.
All she knew was we were going out on Tuesday and I found it hard keeping the secret from her, but I somehow did and it was not until we walked to the prison gates she finally knew.
Before I give my thoughts on the prison here is some of its history.
History
HMP Shepton Mallet, sometimes known as Cornhill, is a former prison located in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. When it closed in 2013, it was the United Kingdom's oldest operating prison, and had been since the closure of HMP Lancaster Castle in 2011.Before closure Shepton Mallet was a category C lifer prison holding 189 prisoners. The prison building is grade II* listed, while the former gatehouse and perimeter walls are grade II.
The prison was opened before 1625 but was already in poor repair by the end of the First English Civil War in 1646. It was expanded in 1790 but conditions were again criticised in a report of 1822 and further building work was undertaken in the 1820s and 1830s. This included the installation of a treadwheel for those sentenced to hard labour. In 1843 the number of cells was increased by adding a second storey to each wing. The prison was damaged during a fire in 1904. In 1930 the number of inmates had fallen and the prison was closed.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the prison was reopened as a military prison. It was initially used by the British Army and later by American forces who constructed a new execution block to hang condemned prisoners. It was also used for the storage of important historical documents from the Public Record Office in London, including Domesday Book. Following the war the prison continued as a military "glasshouse" until it was returned to civilian use in 1966.
The Prison was decommissioned in 2013 and is now run by the Campbell Group as an interactive tourism destination, offering guided tours, ghost tours, and other activities.
I had pre booked our tickets which was the cheapest way to do it and choose not to do the guided tour as we much prefer to wonder around ourselves. It took a little while exploring a number of rooms and the exercise yard before we finally got into the largest wing the B wing.
This was prison as you see it on the TV but we were shocked how small the cells were and how hard the conditions must have been like for the inmates. It was not until 1996 that toilets and showers were introduced into the prison. Up until then they had to slop out every morning. The recesses were originally used for the prisoners to “slop out” and wash their pots, this would have been a flash point for violence The officers would have be vigilant when managing this area.
The A wing only had cells on one side, as the other side is the outside perimeter wall, having cells against this could have allowed prisoners to attempt to dig through the walls.
The D wing was the segregation wing the cells were used for prisoners who had made a serious attempt to commit suicide or were at imminent risk of doing so.
The execution room gives you a real chill, the prisoner was taken to another cell and held there for ten days. Two guards stayed with him to make sure he did not take his own life. What he did not know was what was behind the bookcase, a door into the very room where he would be executed.
There are other parts to see such as the gym, chapel and the original gatehouse. B wing is in the best condition and all cells have very old metal bed frames bolted to the floor. Every single cell looks the same and must have been hell to live in.
Most of the cells in A wing have very bad black mould on the walls, a bit concerning as I am sure it must pose a health and safety issue for visitors to the prison.
Happy we had seen all there was to see we walked the short distance into the town. It was still early afternoon but most of the shops were closed. We found a bakery open and bought some lunch. We then set off to Glastonbury as we wanted to visit the ruined abbey But when he got to the town it was packed and we could not find one single parking place, so we decided to do it another time and headed back to home.
We both really enjoyed our visit to the prison, but it is one of those places you would only visit the one time. Not sure what the future holds for it as the company only has a short lease on it which I understands runs out in a few years.
