C O N T E X T 1 5 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 7 31 WILL HOLBOROW The creative re-use of historic prisons Some older gaols have already been sold and are being redeveloped, and the heritage significance of the remaining historic prison estate is setting its own challenges. Prisons have been much in the news recently, usually for baleful operational reasons rather than for their historic interest. The government has made no secret of its intention to sell off older gaols – mostly in urban centres – and to use the proceeds to build larger modern establishments.This process has already begun with the sale of the first tranche of prisons in 2013. Prior to 2013, there were very few disposals of historic prisons. The two notable exceptions were the former Oxford prison (returned to Oxfordshire County Council in 1997) and Lancaster Castle (returned to the Duchy of Lancaster in 2012). The first step to sell historic prisons on the open market came in 2013 when nine historic prisons were closed by the Ministry of Justice: Canterbury, Camp Hill (on the Isle of Wight), Dorchester, Gloucester, Kingston (in Portsmouth), Northallerton, Reading, Shepton Mallet and Shrewsbury. Historic England reviewed all of these sites and updated list descriptions for six of them, offering greater detail about their history and significance.Two further sites which were previously unrecognised as being of historic interest were listed for the first time: Northallerton and Camp Hill. In addition, Historic England has reviewed the listings at two sites in the current portfolio: Aylesbury and Dartmoor. Seven of the sites which closed in 2013 have now been sold: five of them to specialist property developers (four to City and Country, and one to Trevor Osborne). The site at Canterbury has been sold to Canterbury University and Northallerton has been sold to Hambledon District Council. A major new prison transformation programme was announced by the chancellor and justice secretary in 2015, which will lead to further closures of older prisons. The Ministry of Justice has also announced that its lease on Dartmoor Prison at Princetown will not be renewed. Reading Gaol (Grade II) was designed in the early 1840s on the Pentonville model. It stands on a site with a much longer history and overlies the eastern end of the scheduled monument of Reading Abbey. Following its closure in 2013, Reading Borough Council has published an outline development framework which foresees the prison being an important extension to the emerging Abbey Quarter. The Grade II* Armley Prison, Leeds, built in the 1840s, remains operational. The plan of radiating wings arranged around a central ‘inspection hall’ shown here is closely modelled on the example of Pentonville.
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