HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service (now

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 ...

) until its closure at the start of 2014. It is a

Grade II 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, H ...

and sits on the site of

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, ...

History

HM Prison Reading was built in 1844 as the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

County Gaol in the heart of

on the site of the former county prison, alongside the ruins of

and beside the

River Kennet The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

. Designed by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

and William Boynthon Moffatt, it was based on London's New Model Prison at

Pentonville Pentonville is an area in North London, located in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the London Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient p ...

with a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

shape, and is a good example of early

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

prison architecture. The

Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

design of 1842 was based on the design of

Eastern State Penitentiary The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located in the Fairmount, Philadelphia, Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the r ...

of 1829 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. It was designed to carry out what was the very latest penal technique of the time, known as the

separate system The separate system is a form of prison management based on the principle of keeping prisoners in solitary confinement. When first introduced in the early 19th century, the objective of such a prison or "penitentiary" was that of penance by the p ...

. As a county gaol, its forecourt served as the site for public executions, the first one in 1845 before a crowd of 10,000; after 1868 executions took place inside, the last one in 1913. Oscar Wilde Prison Cell Reading 2016

It was used to hold Irish prisoners involved in the 1916

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

, for

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

in both World Wars, as a

borstal A borstal is a type of youth detention centre. Such a detention centre is more commonly known as a borstal school in India, where they remain in use today. Until the late 20th century, borstals were present in the United Kingdom, several mem ...

and for a variety of other purposes. Most of those interned 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 ...

were of German origin but there were also Latin Americans, Belgians, and Hungarians. In 1969 the wing where the Irish had been held was demolished. In 1973 Reading was re-designated as a local prison, and around that time its old castle wall was removed. The building was designated as

Grade II listed 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, H ...

in 1978. In 1992 it became a Remand Centre and

Young Offenders Institution In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

, holding prisoners between the ages of 18 and 21 years. Accommodation at the prison consisted of a mixture of single and double occupancy cells, on three wings. There was also a residential unit (Kennet wing) of single occupancy cells for low-security '

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

' prisoners. There were two education departments at the prison, one run by the Prison service and one by

Milton Keynes College Milton Keynes College is a general further education and training college, serving the City of Milton Keynes. It also serves the surrounding areas (northern Aylesbury Vale, south Northamptonshire, north west Bedfordshire and north east Oxford ...

. The remand centre library was run by

Reading Borough Libraries Reading Borough Libraries are responsible for public library provision in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. History Despite the Public Libraries Act 1850 it was not until the 1870s that serious thought was given to the creation of a f ...

. The historic records of the prison are housed at the

Berkshire Record Office The Royal Berkshire Archives is the record office for the county of Berkshire in the United Kingdom. It is located in Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written langua ...

and are the subject of a project focused on the history of ‘ordinary’ men in Berkshire charged with indecent assault/gross indecency between 1861-1967, th
Broken Futures
project, funded by the

National Lottery Heritage Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and managed and delivered by Support U, the LGBT+ support and wellbeing charity in the Thames Valley.

Closure

On 4 September 2013, it was announced that HM Prison Reading would close by the end of that year, and the prison formally closed in January 2014 under

The Closure of Prisons Order 2014 The Closure of Prisons Order 2014 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The order closed several prisons in England. Background In 2013 and 2014, the UK coalition government undertook a programme of policies which ...

. There have been calls for the prison building to be preserved as an arts and cultural hub, and Reading Borough Council have confirmed that they would like to retain the complex. In June 2014 it was proposed that the site could be converted into a theatre venue. However, in November 2015 it was announced by Chancellor George Osborne and Justice Secretary Michael Gove that the site was to be sold to housing developers. In May 2016, it was announced that the former prison would be made available as an arts venue for the Reading 2016 Year of Culture programme. An exhibition curated by

Artangel Artangel is a London-based arts organisation founded in 1985 by Roger Took. Directed since 1991 by James Lingwood and Michael Morris, it has commissioned and produced a string of notable site-specific works, plus several projects for TV, film, r ...

attracted tens of thousands of visitors. There have been concerted efforts by campaigners wanting a permanent arts and cultural hub at the gaol. These include a petition started by local MP Matt Rodda and the "Reading Gaol Hug" in which about 1000 people surrounded the gaol linking hands. However in October 2019 the Ministry of Justice announced that the site was to be sold. A "March to the Gaol" scheduled for March 2021 had to be cancelled at the last moment due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Reading Borough Council put forward a bid to turn the gaol into an arts and cultural hub. Artisan Real Estate was the successful bidder but in November 2020 it was announced that the sale had fallen through. Reading Borough Council were then given a period of exclusivity to prepare a new bid for the gaol by mid March 2021 On the night of 28 February 2021,

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive ep ...

painted a mural on the wall of the prison depicting a prisoner escaping on a rope made of bedsheets tied to a

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

, speculated to be a reference to Wilde's imprisonment. Banksy uploaded a video of the creation titled "Create Escape" on 5 March, mixed over a narration by

Bob Ross Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter and art instructor who created and hosted '' The Joy of Painting'', an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, ...

. Damian Jones of

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

noted the possible link to the ongoing campaign to save the gaol building as an arts hub, and local MP Matt Rodda also expressed the hope that the artwork would become a part of this. In May 2021, it was announced that Reading Borough Council's bid for the gaol had been turned down by the Ministry of Justice because the offer of £2.6 million was too low. In January 2024, the property was sold for £7 million to the non-profit Ziran Education Foundation, run by the Chinese-born businessman Channing Bi.

Notable former inmates

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

– author of poem ''

The Ballad of Reading Gaol ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'' is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand and Naples, after his release from Reading Gaol () on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecenc ...

'', based on memory of an execution that took place here while he was serving a sentence for homosexual offences (1895–1897) *

Charles Thomas Wooldridge Charles Thomas Wooldridge (1864 – 7 July 1896) was a Trooper (rank), Trooper in the Royal Horse Guards who was executed in HM Prison Reading, Reading Gaol for uxoricide and who, as 'C.T.W', was the dedicatee of Oscar Wilde's ''The Ballad of ...

– murderer, whose execution inspired Wilde's poem (1896) *

Amelia Dyer Amelia Elizabeth Hobley (1837 – 10 June 1896), popularly dubbed the Ogress of Reading, was an English serial killer who murdered infants in her care over a thirty-year period during the Victorian era.

– serial killer of children (1896) *

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remains a prominent figure in American theatre across his ...

– actor, served six months after being arrested for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

smuggling (1984) *

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He held the unified champion, unified world heavyweight championship twice between 2016 and 2021. At regional level, he held the British Boxing Board of C ...

– professional boxer, spent two weeks in HM Prison Reading (2009)

References

Bibliography

* Peter Southerton: ''Reading Gaol by Reading Town'' (Berkshire Books, Gloucs., 1993). * Anthony Stokes: ''Pit of Shame, The Real Ballad of Reading Gaol'' (Waterside Press, 2007).

External links

History of Reading Prison from theprison.org.uk

Ministry of Justice pages on Reading

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reading Prisons in Berkshire 1844 establishments in England History of Berkshire 2014 disestablishments in England

Grade II listed buildings in Reading