HM Prison Perth is a

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 ...

Perth, Scotland Perth (; ) is a centrally located Cities of Scotland, Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about ...

, which houses remand, short term, long term and life adult male prisoners (those prisoners serving under four years). It was originally constructed to hold French prisoners captured during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, and is the oldest working prison in Scotland.

Purpose and location

The prison is a maximum security establishment which also houses fine defaulters and those on remand from the courts of

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

, the

Dundee City council area Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

and the northern part of

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. There is a secure unit for Category A prisoners who are serving sentences of up to life imprisonment. It is Scotland's oldest prison still in use.

Buildings and facilities

Main building

The main building, a half-mile (1 km) south of the city centre beyond the South Inch, was constructed by architect Robert Reid (1774–1856) from 1810-12 to hold French prisoners captured during the

, when it was known as the Depot. In 1842, the building began service as a civilian prison. It comprises three halls, labelled A to C, (originally five) and has a capacity of 630 prisoners.

Friarton Hall

A second building, Friarton Hall, which was, until 1999, a separate institution known as HM Prison Friarton, was situated opposite the southern end of Moncreiffe Island, south southeast of the town centre. This modern building once served to prepare prisoners for open conditions and had a capacity of 89. Friarton closed in early 2010 and was demolished to make way for a housing estate.

Current capacity

The prison no longer has a D or an E hall. The original C Hall was replaced in 2006 by a newer Hall holding 365 prisoners. The prison now holds approaching 700 prisoners, including a large number serving for more than four years.

Hanging block

In 1965, the United Kingdom's last condemned suite to be built was constructed at the prison. The building was separate from the rest of the prison and was known as the 'Hanging Block'. It was never used as the death penalty was suspended later that year and abolished for murder in 1969. When the gallows at HMP Barlinnie were removed in 1995, the Perth facility was retained for use in the unlikely event of a death sentence being carried out for one of the remaining capital offences (

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and piracy with violence). After the final abolition of the death penalty for all offences in 1998, it became an officer training facility and was demolished in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perth (Hm Prison) Listed prison buildings in Scotland Listed buildings in Perth, Scotland Prisons in Perth, Scotland Category A listed buildings in Perth and Kinross 19th-century establishments in Scotland Execution sites in Scotland 1842 establishments in Scotland