Not posted in a while but as I have not seen tghis place on here dues to the security presence (well it is a prison) I took te oppertunity to visit it as it was open for some art show and look round the prison.
HM Prison Reading was built in 1844 as the Berkshire County Gaol in the heart of Reading, Berkshire on the site of the former county prison, alongside the site of Reading Abbey and beside the River Kennet.
Designed by George Gilbert Scott it was based on London's New Model Prison at Pentonville with a cruciform shape, and is a good example of early Victorian prison architecture. The Pentonville Prison design of 1842 was based on the design of Eastern State Penitentiary of 1829 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was designed to carry out what was the very latest penal technique of the time, known as the separate system. As a county gaol, its forecourt served as the site for public executions, the first one in 1845 before a crowd of 10,000; after 1868 executions took place inside, the last one in 1913.
It was used to hold Irish prisoners involved in the 1916 Easter Rising, for internment in both World Wars, as a Borstal and for a variety of other purposes. Most of those interned during the First World War were of German origin but there were also Latin Americans, Belgians, and Hungarians. In 1969 the wing where the Irish had been held was demolished.
In 1973 Reading was re-designated as a local prison and around that time its old castle wall was removed. In 1992 it became a Remand Centre and Young Offenders Institution, holding prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 years.
Before closure, Reading was a young-offender institution and remand centre, holding males aged 18 to 21. Accommodation at the prison consisted of a mixture of single and double occupancy cells contained on three wings. There was also a further residential unit (Kennet wing) of single occupancy cells for low security 'open' prisoners. There were two education departments at Reading prison, one run by the Prison service and one by Milton Keynes College. The remand centre library was run by Reading Borough Libraries.
On 4 September 2013, it was announced that HM Prison Reading would close by the end of that year, and the prison formally closed in November.
There have been calls for the prison building to be preserved as a tourist attraction, and Reading Council have confirmed that they intend to retain the complex.In June 2014 it was proposed that the site could be converted into a theatre venue.However, in November 2015 it was announced by Chancellor George Osborne and Justice Secretary Michael Gove that the site was to be sold to housing developers.
In May 2016 it was announced that the former prison would be made available as an arts venue for the Reading 2016 Year of Culture programme
[/url]IMG_3041 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
The main entrance, just to say I remember the old entrance before it was demolished and it looked a lot nicer. Might add I went to school next door at St James
[/url]IMG_3031 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Walk in the parison
[/url]IMG_2954 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
One of the lower wings
[/url]IMG_2956 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Some of the inmates who were let out but were constant offenders, the one on the bottom right is a girl aged about 12
[/url]IMG_2960 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
One o fthe cells, when frst opened it was one to a cell and no mod cons like toilets
[/url]IMG_2995 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Oscer Wilde's Cell
[/url]IMG_3000 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
This is one of the pieces of art and the block is the size of a cell, the dor is Oscar Wilde's old door
[/url]IMG_3020 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
One from the top floor
[/url]IMG_3010 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
The top floor
[/url]IMG_2979 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Another of the cells with art work in it if you call photos of a dude some naked and jerking off art then good luck, I call it crap. Not impressed
[/url]IMG_3014 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Across the centre atrium
[/url]IMG_3029 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
The amazing Victorian Celing
[/url]IMG_2999 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
The chapel which was made into a sports hall after it was distroyed
[/url]IMG_2987 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Showers
[/url]IMG_2948 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Razor Wire
[/url]IMG_2944 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Leads to the couryard where a did is going on at the moment
[/url]IMG_2943 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
The outer walls
[/url]IMG_2964 by Billy Blue Eyes, on Flickr[/IMG]
Picture of the prison when it was first opened
Thats it a little look round the prison. Costs bit to get in and it's still open till the 4th Decemeber if you want to visit but you need to book on like to go.
More photos on Flickr
HM Prison Reading was built in 1844 as the Berkshire County Gaol in the heart of Reading, Berkshire on the site of the former county prison, alongside the site of Reading Abbey and beside the River Kennet.
Designed by George Gilbert Scott it was based on London's New Model Prison at Pentonville with a cruciform shape, and is a good example of early Victorian prison architecture. The Pentonville Prison design of 1842 was based on the design of Eastern State Penitentiary of 1829 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was designed to carry out what was the very latest penal technique of the time, known as the separate system. As a county gaol, its forecourt served as the site for public executions, the first one in 1845 before a crowd of 10,000; after 1868 executions took place inside, the last one in 1913.
It was used to hold Irish prisoners involved in the 1916 Easter Rising, for internment in both World Wars, as a Borstal and for a variety of other purposes. Most of those interned during the First World War were of German origin but there were also Latin Americans, Belgians, and Hungarians. In 1969 the wing where the Irish had been held was demolished.
In 1973 Reading was re-designated as a local prison and around that time its old castle wall was removed. In 1992 it became a Remand Centre and Young Offenders Institution, holding prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 years.
Before closure, Reading was a young-offender institution and remand centre, holding males aged 18 to 21. Accommodation at the prison consisted of a mixture of single and double occupancy cells contained on three wings. There was also a further residential unit (Kennet wing) of single occupancy cells for low security 'open' prisoners. There were two education departments at Reading prison, one run by the Prison service and one by Milton Keynes College. The remand centre library was run by Reading Borough Libraries.
On 4 September 2013, it was announced that HM Prison Reading would close by the end of that year, and the prison formally closed in November.
There have been calls for the prison building to be preserved as a tourist attraction, and Reading Council have confirmed that they intend to retain the complex.In June 2014 it was proposed that the site could be converted into a theatre venue.However, in November 2015 it was announced by Chancellor George Osborne and Justice Secretary Michael Gove that the site was to be sold to housing developers.
In May 2016 it was announced that the former prison would be made available as an arts venue for the Reading 2016 Year of Culture programme
The main entrance, just to say I remember the old entrance before it was demolished and it looked a lot nicer. Might add I went to school next door at St James
Walk in the parison
One of the lower wings
Some of the inmates who were let out but were constant offenders, the one on the bottom right is a girl aged about 12
One o fthe cells, when frst opened it was one to a cell and no mod cons like toilets
Oscer Wilde's Cell
This is one of the pieces of art and the block is the size of a cell, the dor is Oscar Wilde's old door
One from the top floor
The top floor
Another of the cells with art work in it if you call photos of a dude some naked and jerking off art then good luck, I call it crap. Not impressed
Across the centre atrium
The amazing Victorian Celing
The chapel which was made into a sports hall after it was distroyed
Showers
Razor Wire
Leads to the couryard where a did is going on at the moment
The outer walls
Picture of the prison when it was first opened
Thats it a little look round the prison. Costs bit to get in and it's still open till the 4th Decemeber if you want to visit but you need to book on like to go.
More photos on Flickr
