HM Prison Lincoln is a Category B men's

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 ...

, located in Lincoln,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

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 is operated by

His 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 ...

. A category B prison which allocates convicted prisoners within its catchment area.

History

Lincoln opened as a local prison in 1872 to hold remand and convicted prisoners and replacing the prison at

Lincoln Castle Lincoln Castle is a major medieval castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only ...

. The original 1869–72 structures designed by Frederick Peck are now

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s and are notable examples of High Victorian gothic design. The prison accommodation has been altered and extended at various times in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1961 a total of 18 judicial executions took place at the prison. The last execution was that of Wasyl Gnypiuk, a 34-year-old Polish-Ukrainian immigrant. After being convicted of the murder of Louise Surgey (his 62-year-old landlady) at Nottingham Assizes, Gnypiuk was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

by executioner Harry Allen on 27 January 1961. Afterwards, his body was buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of the prison, as was customary. In October 2002 inmates set fire to parts of the prison and seized control of at least one section of the prison during a large

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

at Lincoln. The disturbance started when a prison officer was attacked by a prisoner. A number of prisoners then jumped on the officer, assaulted him and dragged him into a cell and took his keys. It took prison officers eight hours to bring the riot under control. In March 2003 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 ...

issued a report claiming that Lincoln Prison was unstable and suffering inconsistent leadership. The Trust also labelled Lincoln as the nation's most overcrowded prison, holding 13 inmates over its maximum capacity of 738. Its operational capacity as of April 2023 is 650 inmates.

The prison today

Lincoln is a Category B local prison holding adult male remand and convicted prisoners from the courts in Lincolnshire,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. Accommodation at the prison is spread across four residential wings (A, B, C & E wings) and a segregation unit. The regime at Lincoln includes production workshops, charity workshops,

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, vocational training courses and Offending behaviour courses. Other facilities include the prison's

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

Notable former inmates

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...

; English author and politician, imprisoned for perjury *

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to Rev. William George Brockway and Frances Eliz ...

; British peace campaigner and later a politician who was imprisoned as a conscientious objector * Don Brothwell; British archaeologist who was imprisoned after refusing the call-up for National Service as a conscientious objector * Fred Nodder; Child murderer executed at Lincoln in 1937; In 1954 his infamous crime led to English case law no longer requiring a body. *

John George Haigh John George Haigh ( ; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...

; English serial killer in the 1940s *

John Poulson John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (14 April 1910 – 31 January 1993) was a British architectural designer and businessman who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery was disclosed in 1972. The highest-ranking figure to be forced ...

; British architect and businessman, imprisoned for bribery * Percy Toplis; the subject of the controversial Monacled Mutineer series about his alleged role in the Étaples mutiny served two years hard labour for attempted rape *

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

; Irish politician, later

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

and

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

* Charles Salvador; British Prisoner

References

External links

Pages on Lincoln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln (Hm Prison) Prisons in Lincolnshire Category B prisons in England 1872 establishments in England HM Prison Men's prisons