Manchester (HM Prison)
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| HMP Manchester | |
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| Opened | 1869 |
|---|---|
| Management | HM Prison Service |
| Prison type | Adult Male/Category A |
| Prisoner figures | 1269 (August 2008) |
| Location | Manchester, Greater Manchester |
| Governor | Richard Vince |
| Information | www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk |
HM Prison Manchester is a Category A men's prison, located in the city of Manchester, England. The prison is also known (now unofficially, since it was renamed in the 1990s) as Strangeways Prison. The Prisons walls, which are rumoured to be as thick as 16 feet, are said to be impenetrable either from the inside or out. Manchester prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
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[edit] History
Construction of the Grade II listed prison was completed in 1869 to replace the New Bailey Prison in Salford, which closed in 1868. The prison designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1862, with input from Joshua Jebb,[1], cost £170,000, and had a capacity of 1,000 inmates. Its 234 feet (71 m) high tower has become a local landmark.[2] The prison buildings consist of two radial blocks with a total of ten wings (A, B, C, D, E, F in one block, and G, H, I, K in the second).[3] It was built on the grounds of Strangeways Park and Gardens, which gave the prison its original name, and was officially opened on 25 June 1868.
The prison was open to both male and female prisoners until 1963, and in 1980 it began to accept remand prisoners.
As of 2005 the prison held just over 1,200 inmates.
[edit] As a place of execution
Originally, the prison contained an execution shed in B wing; however, after World War I a special execution room and cell for the condemned criminal was constructed. Strangeways was also one of the few prisons to have permanent gallows.[2] The first execution was of twenty-year-old murderer Michael Johnson, hanged by William Calcraft on 29 March 1869.
Twenty-nine hangings took place in the next twenty years, with a further 71 taking place in the 20th century, bringing the total number of hangings at the prison to 100 people. However, during the second half of the century, the number of executions decreased, with no hangings taking place between 1954 and 1962. John Robson Walby (alias Gwynne Owen Evans), one of the last two people to be hanged in England, was executed at Strangeways on 13 August 1964. Out of the 100 total hangings, there were four double hangings, while the rest were done individually. The famous "quickest hanging" of James Inglis in 7.5 seconds, carried out by Albert Pierrepoint, took place at Strangeways.
[edit] Other executions
Mary Ann Britland (38) was executed on 9 August 1886 for the murder of two family members and her neighbour. She was the first woman to be executed at Strangeways. John Jackson was executed on 7 August 1879. Thom Davies was hanged on 9 January 1889 for sexual deviancy charges. Lieutenant Frederick Rothwell Holt was hanged on 13 April 1920 for the murder of twenty-six-year-old Kathleen Breaks. Louie Calvert was hanged on 24 June 1926.[2]
Doctor Buck Ruxton was executed on 12 May 1936 for the double murder of his wife and his housemaid. The public was so sure of his innocence that a petition for clemency was signed by 10,000 people.[2] Margaret Allen was hanged on 12 January 1949 by Albert Pierrepoint for the murder of an elderly widower. Her execution was the first of a woman in Britain for twelve years.[2] and the third execution of a woman at Strangeways.
After the infamous seven-second hanging, Albert Pierrepoint executed Louisa May Merrifield (46), the fourth and last woman to be executed at the prison.
During prison rebuilding work in 1991, the remains of 63 executed prisoners (only 45 of which were identifiable) were exhumed from unmarked graves in the prison cemetery[1] and cremated at Blackley Crematorium in Manchester. The cremated remains were then re-interred in a single grave at the adjacent cemetery. [2]
[edit] Strangeways riots
Between 1 April and 25 April 1990, 147 staff and 47 prisoners were injured in a series of riots by prison inmates. There was one fatality among the prisoners, and one prison officer also died (from heart failure)[4]. Much of the original prison was damaged or destroyed during the riots. Several inmates were charged with various offences, and as a result, among others, Paul Taylor and Alan Lord faced a five month trial as the ringleaders. The riots resulted in the Woolf Inquiry, and the prison was rebuilt and renamed Her Majesty's Prison, Manchester. Over £55,000,000 was used to repair the prison after the riot.
The running of the prison has been put out to tender on two occasions, in 1994 and 2001. [3]
[edit] The prison today
The prison is a high-security prison for adult males. Accommodation at the prison is divided into 9 wings in two radial blocks. Cells are a mixture of single and double occupancy, all having in-cell power points and integral sanitation.
Education and vocational training at the prison is provided by The Manchester College. Courses offered include Information Technology, ESOL, Numeracy, Industrial Cleaning, Bricklaying, Painting and Decorating, Plastering, Textiles and Laundry. The prisons gym also runs courses in Physical Education, as well as offering recreational sport and fitness programmes.
[edit] Notable former inmates
- Ian Brady - held for theft prior to the Moors murders
- Harold Shipman – held there on remand whilst awaiting trial.
- James Inglis – the world's fastest hanging
- Donovan - reputedly held on suspicion of burglary, before beginning his musical career (was acquitted at trial)
- Ian Brown – Rock Singer jailed for "air rage", released on December 1999
- David Dickinson – TV Presenter specialising in antiques—imprisoned for fraud in pre-celeb days
- Gordon Park – in 2005 convicted for the murder of his first wife, Carol Park, in 1976.
- Joey Barton - Premiership footballer held there for violent conduct in 2008
[edit] Cultural references
- Strangeways, a track on the 1987 rock album The House of Blue Light by Deep Purple
- Strangeways, Here We Come, 1987 rock album by The Smiths.
- 'Mad' Frankie Fraser (1982) Held on 'A' Wing and excused boots for supposed fallen arches.
- Eric Allison (1970) went on to be The Guardian Prison Reporter and author of A Serious Disturbance, a book giving an account of Strangeways Riot.
- In the song There Goes a Tenner from the album The Dreaming, Kate Bush sings of being "a star in Strangeways". The song is about a botched bank robbery.
- The song Fallowfield Hillbilly from the album St. Jude (album) by Manchester band The Courteeners, refers to Strangeways and the type of people that "indie snobs" perceive to be the inmates of.
- In the comic Hellblazer, issue 34 (October, 1990) the main character John Constantine refers to Strangeways prison "exploding with [excrement] and blood," and suggests the conditions of its holding cells by referring to them as "Victorian pressure cookers" into which government officials who turn a blind eye should be squeezed to "see what pops out of [their] pimple."
[edit] References
- ^ Strangeways Prison, Manchester
- ^ a b c d e "Strangeways Prison". http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/strangeway.html.
- ^ "Manchester". HM Prison Service. http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=618,15,2,15,618,0.
- ^ "On This Day: 1 April". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_4215000/4215173.stm. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
