Reprieve for HMP Gloucester

When HMP Gloucester closed in 2013 after a 222 year history the grade II listed building that had housed one of the oldest prisons in the country looked destined for re-development into for a complex of ”unique” luxury homes but six years on there still so sign of imminent construction. The intervening years have seen the discovery of the ruins of a huge medieval castle, and the buried remains of around a hundred former inmates hanged at the site.

The Prison is still owned by the developers but now managed by a events company with a site hosting everything from zombie experiences to weddings, it’s also a regular film location and plays host to combat games. Whilst I’m not sure how to feel about a place with such a bleak past being treated as a destination for leisure activities, I am happy that many original features have been retained. So for now the this unique historic place remains largely intact, decaying slowly but still accessible to small groups of people who can experience it’s atmosphere for a few a hours and reflect on remnants that hint at the story of the former inmates, tiny scraps from girlie magazines, names and dates etched into the brickwork, views obscured by bars or razor wire the façade scared by the decommissioned gallows and incredible architectural features such as the coiled serpent being crushed by a lion’s paw outside each cell, representing the struggle between good and evil.

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