A glasshouse, or the glasshouse is a

military prison A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members o ...

in the United Kingdom.

History

The first military prisons were established in 1844. The term ''Glasshouse'' originated from the

Aldershot military prison Aldershot military prison, known as the Glasshouse on account of its glazed roof, was the military prison in Aldershot in Hampshire from 1870 until it was burned down during riots in February 1946 and was finally demolished in 1958. History T ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the Engli ...

, which had a glazed roof. Over time, the word ''glasshouse'' came to be applied to all military prisons. Aldershot military prison, which was also called the Detention Barracks, had begun as several barracks in 1856, before being replaced by a single, large building, modelled on the then civilian

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

system in 1870. This building was destroyed by fire in a riot of 1946 when the prisoners (labeled as 'mutineers' in the press) were protesting about their rations and conditions given that the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

was over. Glasshouses gained a reputation for brutality, as depicted in Allan Campbell McLean's novel ''The Glass House'' and the

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origi ...

film '' The Hill''. Today, the British Armed Forces have only one remaining correction facility, the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) at

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. Whilst the MCTC is not a prison, it is inspected by the Justice Inspectorate and any serviceperson convicted of a crime at Court Martial that warrants a prison sentence, will be sent to the MCTC for processing, before being sent to a civilian prison. The MCTC at Colchester was featured in a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

documentary in 1994 (''The Glasshouse'') which prompted an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by members of Parliament that formally calls for debate "on an early day". In practice, they are rarely debated in the House a ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

over the inmates having access to ammunition and weapons (as part of normal military drill.) This was because the government at the time, were seeking to use the MCTC as a model for youth custody in civilian prisons.

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

also produced a TV-documentary series, '' The Real Red Caps'', (2003).

List of glasshouses

* HMP Barlinnie * HMP Northallerton * HMP Shepton Mallet * MCTC Colchester

References

External links

Hampshire County Council. Aldershot Military Museum: The Glasshouse – The Aldershot Military Detention Barracks

{Dead link, date=December 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Adjutant General's Corps Military slang and jargon Prisons in Essex United Kingdom military law Military prisons