Thinking beyond the prison
We tend to think that prisons are there forever.
They are intentionally imposing and robust buildings, fortresses made of thick brick and steel, designed never to be breached. They are also an expression of the criminal law, which is generally perceived to be the eternal and absolute moral code governing social life.
And many prisons are around for a very long time indeed. If you look at our interactive map you can see that over a quarter of prisons in England and Wales that are still in operation were opened before 1900. Wakefield prison first opened in 1594!
Digging around in another useful map produced by a team at the Open University, you can see that a great many prisons do in fact close. Work the Centre did a few years ago found that 19 prisons have ceased operation since 2011.
Certainly in recent times, these closures tend to be the result of decisions made from above about estate management, although there's at least one historical example of what you might call a 'community campaign' to close a prison (during an uprising in Bristol in 1831 the inmates of a prison were released, the prison sacked and burned down. Maybe not a strategy we'd condone now).
So what happens to prisons when they do close?
Take a look at this table of closures since 2011 to see a brief summary of what kinds of things have replaced prisons during this time.
Two interesting examples, one from the 19th Century and another from the 20th, are Millbank Prison in Westminster and Holloway Prison in Islington.
Millbank prison, closed in 1890, performed various roles throughout its 74 years in operation: acting as the National Penitentiary holding both men and women; a holding depot for prisoners awaiting transportation; a local prison; and finally a military prison. The grand and beautiful Tate Britain art gallery now stands on the site.
Holloway Prison, opened in 1852, rebuilt in the 1960s and 1970s, and closed in 2016, spent most of its life as a women's prison. By the time of its closure, it was the largest women's prison in Europe, holding 500 women at a time.
After a successful community campaign which the Centre was heavily involved in, the site was sold to Peabody Housing Association in 2019. Peabody's latest plans for the site include just under 600 affordable homes, 400 of which will be at social rent rates. A further 400 homes will be market value. The proposals also include a 1.5 acre public park and a community facility for women on the bottom floor of one of the residential blocks.
These are certainly far better uses of the land, more enriching for the communities who live around them.
In this vein, we’re interested in starting a conversation about what better uses prison sites could be put to. What kinds of things could the land be used for if the prison nearest to you wasn’t there?
If you have any thoughts and ideas, or just want to start a conversation, you can do so via this page on our website. We’ll get back to everyone who responds.