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Shrewsbury (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
There are four prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom used to classify every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape....
men's prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, located in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
.
The prison is located on Howard Street, adjacent to Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station
Shrewsbury railway station is the railway station serving Shrewsbury, county town of Shropshire, England. It is the only remaining railway station in the town; Shrewsbury Abbey, as well as other small stations around the town, having long closed. The station was built in 1848 and has been extended...
, and is near to the site of the Dana Gaol (where a medieval prison once stood before the railway station was built). The name The Dana is still often used for the prison, as well as being the name of the road to one side of the prison and the pedestrian route that runs from near the front of the prison into the town centre via a footbridge over the station.
History
There has been a prison on the site since 1793, but the present prison was built in 1877. Between 1902 and 1961 the following six people were executed by hangingHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
within the walls of HMP Shrewsbury for the crime of murder:-
- Richard Wigley aged 34 yrs on Tuesday, 18 March, 1902 (Mary Ellen Bowen [girlfriend])
- William Griffiths aged 57 yrs on Tuesday, 24 July, 1923 (Catherine Hughes [mother])
- Frank Griffin aged 40 yrs on Thursday, 4 January, 1951 (Jane Edge)
- Harry Huxley aged 43 yrs on Tuesday, 8 July, 1952 (Ada Royce [girlfriend])
- Desmond Donald Hooper aged 27 yrs on Tuesday, 26 January, 1954 (Betty Smith)
- George Riley aged 21 yrs on Thursday, 9 February 1961 (Adeline Smith)
The names of their victims appear in parentheses. In every case the murder victim was female. Executions took place at 8.00 am. All executed prisoners were buried in unmarked grave
Unmarked grave
The phrase unmarked grave has metaphorical meaning in the context of cultures that mark burial sites.As a figure of speech, a common meaning of the term "unmarked grave" is consignment to oblivion, i.e., an ignominious end. A grave monument is a sign of respect and fondness, erected with the...
s inside the prison, as was customary.
In September 2004, Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
George Stevenson, called for an enquiry into the amount of suicides which had occurred at Shrewsbury Prison. This came after 3 inmates had hanged themselves at the jail in 2 weeks.
Since 2004, Shrewsbury has been labelled as one the most overcrowded prisons in the UK. According to Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
figures, the prison is the only one in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
operating above what is described as its maximum safe overcrowding level. A report in 2005 named Shrewsbury prison as the most overcrowded in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
and this continues to be the case to the present day. In August 2008 a new report stated that the prison had 178 places in use but currently holds 326 inmates - an overcrowding rate of 183%.
The prison today
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
buildings. The prison lies on a hill and has little room nearby to expand. It is bordered by the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
, Shrewsbury railway station, a residential area and the railway station's car park. However, there are currently no proposals to relocate the prison.
The prison offers education and workshops to inmates. A Listener Scheme is also available to prisoners at risk of suicide or self harm.
One interesting feature of the building is the bust of John Howard
John Howard (prison reformer)
John Howard was a philanthropist and the first English prison reformer.-Birth and early life:Howard was born in Lower Clapton, London. His father, also John, was a wealthy upholsterer at Smithfield Market in the city...
, (the prison reform
Prison reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system.-History:Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last couple of centuries...
er) mounted above the main entrance to the prison. The street leading up to the prison from the nearest main road is named after him.
Cultural Links
The prison is mentioned in "On Moonlit Heath and Lonesome Bank" which is part of "A Shropshire LadA Shropshire Lad
A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman . Some of the better-known poems in the book are "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty".The collection was published in 1896...
" by A E Housman