Reading

HMP Reading

Location	Reading, Berkshire
Security class	Young offenders Institution
Population	297 (as of October 2006)
Opened	1844
Managed by	HM Prison Services
Governor	David Rogers
Website	Reading at justice.gov.uk

HM Prison Reading, formerly known as Reading Gaol, is a prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

History

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 it also served as the site for executions, the first one in 1845 before a crowd of 10,000, the last one being carried out in 1913.

From 1916, it was used to hold Irish prisoners involved in the Easter Rising. It closed as gaol in 1920 and has also been used as internment site in both world wars, a Borstal and for a variety of other purposes.

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.

The prison today

HMP Reading is a young offender Institution and remand centre, holding males aged 18 to 21. Accommodation at the prison consists of a mixture of single and double occupancy cells contained on three Victorian style wings. There is also a further residential unit(Kennet wing) of single occupancy cells for low security 'open' prisoners.

The Remand centre Library service is run by Reading Borough Libraries. There are two education departments at Reading prison. One is run by the Prison service and one is run by Manchester College.

Famous inmates

• Oscar Wilde
• Stacy Keach

References

• Peter Southerton: Reading Gaol by Reading Town (Berkshire Books, Gloucs., 1993).
• Anthony Stokes: " Pit of Shame, The Real Ballad of Reading Gaol " (Waterside Press, 2007).

External links

• Ministry of Justice pages on Reading
• Ballad of Reading Gaol Etext
• Essay on Wilde and the history of Reading Prison

Coordinates: 51°27′23″N 0°57′51″W / 51.45639°N 0.96417°W / 51.45639; -0.96417

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