{"id":22572,"date":"2023-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=22572"},"modified":"2023-04-24T16:51:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:51:16","slug":"explore-shepton-mallet-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/2023\/03\/16\/explore-shepton-mallet-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore: Shepton Mallet Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EXPLORE\u2026 <\/span>SHEPTON MALLET PRISON, SOMERSET<\/span> <\/h4>\n\n

Past misdemeanours<\/h2>\n\n

In a bustling Somerset market town, the former jail provides a reminder of the harshness of historical penal treatment. Victoria Finlay<\/span> <\/strong>explores four centuries of crime and sometimes lethal punishment <\/h5>\n\n
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Shepton Mallet Prison\u2019s C-wing, built in 1848 to house women and their children. During the Second World War, it held important historical records <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Shepton Mallet Prison is an imposing building. Tall grey-stone walls ring its perimeter, dominating the centre of this Somerset market town \u2013 former sheep town, cloth town and, more recently, cider town. But it\u2019s not just the physical structure that casts a dark shadow. This was, until it closed in 2013, the oldest working prison in the country \u2013 and several former inmates still lie buried within these walls, the last of whom was executed here as recently as 1926. <\/p>\n\n

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Staff at Shepton Mallet Prison, pictured c1909. At that time, the jail was a venue for executions <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The jail was commonly known as Cornhill, the name of the property bought in 1625 from the local vicar as the site of a new House of Correction. When the prison was finally decommissioned 10 years ago, it was bought by a property developer aiming to convert it into residential housing. Much of it is Grade II or II* Listed, though, and those planned homes are yet to be constructed. For now, visitors can explore its cells and corridors by themselves or, as I did, join a guided tour. It\u2019s an extraordinary walk through the history of British justice \u2013 or, in some cases, injustice. <\/p>\n\n

In the early years of the prison\u2019s operation, some 40 men, women and children slept together in one big room. By day, they undertook hard labour. Able-bodied men strained to turn the huge treadwheel, installed in 1823, that powered a mill outside the walls; the treadwheel house still stands. Other prisoners picked oakum \u2013 teasing apart rough fibres from tarry ropes from ships \u2013 at the cost of painful, infected hands. <\/p>\n\n

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The former HMP Shepton Mallet, known as Cornhill after the house in which the jail was sited <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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The red-brick execution block, added in 1914. During the US army\u2019s tenancy at Shepton Mallet between 1942 and 1945, 16 American troops were hanged within its walls <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The 1820s saw an end to the so-called \u201cBloody Code\u201d, which mandated the death penalty for some 220 crimes including petty theft. As a result, inmate numbers soared. A governor\u2019s house was added at Shepton Mallet, and an exercise ground around which prisoners were allowed to walk, albeit with their heads covered by sacking. In 1848, a new block, C-wing, was built to house female prisoners and their children. <\/p>\n\n

For centuries, public executions had been a popular form of entertainment in England. Indeed, following the Duke of Monmouth\u2019s failed rebellion in 1685, a dozen of his supporters were hanged at Shepton Mallet\u2019s Market Cross after being held in the jail. After public hangings were abolished in 1868, the prison became a venue for dispatching convicts. Seven men are known to have been executed here between 1889 and 1926, their remains still buried in unmarked graves. <\/p>\n\n

The prison closed in 1930, but reopened as a military \u201cglasshouse\u201d on the outbreak of the Second World War, at a time when the former women\u2019s wing housed the national archive \u2013 including Magna Carta and Domesday Book. In 1942, it was handed over to the US army, again for use as a military prison. Two American soldiers were executed by firing squad. Another 16 met their end by hanging, in a new block built in 1914 to provide a more humane, faster form of execution than shortdrop hanging that was previously used. Condemned men entered the execution chamber through a door concealed in a bookcase. <\/p>\n\n

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The Kray twins (Ronnie, left, and Reggie, pictured in 1965) were incarcerated at Shepton Mallet after absconding from national service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

After the war, the prison was returned to the British military; the Kray twins were held here in the 1950s after absconding from national service. It returned to civilian use in 1966, closing just under half a century later. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cI like it here,\u201d one staff member told me. \u201cWhen I visit stately homes, they feel like they don\u2019t have anything to do with my family \u2013 but I think it\u2019s quite likely one of my ancestors spent time in a place like this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Victoria Finlay <\/strong>is a journalist and author. Her latest book is Fabric <\/em>(Profile, 2021) <\/p>\n\n

VISIT<\/h5>\n\n

For more information on Shepton Mallet Prison, head to sheptonmalletprison.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

MARY EVANS\/SHEPTON MALLET PRISON\/ALAMY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EXPLORE\u2026 SHEPTON MALLET PRISON, SOMERSET Past misdemeanours In a bustling Somerset market town, the former jail provides a reminder of the harshness of historical penal treatment. Victoria Finlay explores four centuries of crime and sometimes lethal punishment Shepton Mallet Prison is an imposing building. Tall grey-stone walls ring its perimeter, dominating the centre of this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":22845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"84","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"84","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_84-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_84-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"April-2023","purple_external_id":"April-2023-84-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"April-2023-84-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000085643||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historymag.293","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"de2d4977-6998-4200-99aa-454f8dbebdf9","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-04-24T14:37:26Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"213ff574-3045-4157-8c2f-9ebfa4ad5b71","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-04-24T14:51:23Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AIT_1dDBFQVeML56_pK1bcQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\""},"categories":[19],"tags":[46],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472.jpg",1600,1075,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472-300x202.jpg",300,202,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472-768x516.jpg",768,516,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472-1024x688.jpg",800,538,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472-1536x1032.jpg",1536,1032,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/03\/New-paint-for-a-film-set_cmyk-e1678206849472.jpg",1600,1075,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"EXPLORE\u2026 SHEPTON MALLET PRISON, SOMERSET Past misdemeanours In a bustling Somerset market town, the former jail provides a reminder of the harshness of historical penal treatment. Victoria Finlay explores four centuries of crime and sometimes lethal punishment Shepton Mallet Prison is an imposing building. 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