HMP Canterbury is a former

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The prison was operated by

Her Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and ...

. The former prison site was bought by

Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...

in April 2014.

History

The prison originated as a county gaol in 1808 and served as a

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

archive during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After a time as a

Naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

Detention Centre during the Second World War, the prison reopened in 1946 as a local prison to serve the courts of Kent. In 2002 it became a category C training prison and in 2006 a foreign nationals prison. In 2003 Canterbury Prison was highlighted by the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community puni ...

as being one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country, claiming that Canterbury was overpopulated 57%. Two years later the

Howard League for Penal Reform The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921 ...

criticised the prison for its high rates of

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

s amongst inmates. In 2007 Canterbury Prison was converted to hold only foreign national prisoners in the UK. This was to allow a centralisation of specialised immigration and language services for foreign prisoners, as well as to allow dedicated immigration officials to work on the deportation of as many inmates as possible (on completion of their sentence). In 2008 the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...

visited Canterbury as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the prison. On 10 January 2013, the Ministry of Justice announced that Canterbury was one of six prisons that would close. The prison formally closed on 31 March 2013 and was put up for sale in March 2014. In April it was announced that

had bought the former prison site, and is consulting on using the site for student accommodation for its North Holmes Campus.

Notable former inmates

* Michael Stone *

Silvino Francisco Silvino Francisco (3 May 1946 – 14 December 2024) was a South African professional snooker player who won the 1985 British Open. Snooker career Francisco came from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both played at ...

* Ronnie and Reggie Kray *

Salman Butt Salman Butt ( Punjabi:سلمان بٹ; born 7 October 1984) is a former Pakistani cricketer and captain who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2003 and 2010, before getting banned for five years for his involvement in a 2010 spo ...

* Mohammad Asif

References

External links

History of Canterbury Prison from theprison.org.ukHMP Canterbury - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Prisons in South East England

1808 establishments in England

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

2013 disestablishments in England Canterbury Christ Church University