Abandoned Prison walk and talk
Core facts
• Opened: 1844
• Closed: 2013
• Type: Victorian local prison
• System used: Separate System (strict isolation)
Structure
• Star-shaped layout for maximum surveillance
• Multiple cell wings radiating from a central hub
• Narrow landings, iron staircases, heavy cell doors
• Chapel designed so prisoners could not see each other
Famous inmate
• Oscar Wilde
• Imprisoned: 1895–1897
• Cell C.2.2
• Convicted of “gross indecency”
• Wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol after release
Executions
• Public executions carried out inside the prison walls
• Last execution at Reading Gaol: 1913
• Execution method: hanging
• Executions stopped nationwide in prisons after 1964 (UK)
Conditions
• Prisoners kept in silence
• Hooded when outside cells
• Minimal human contact
• Punishments included bread-and-water diets and solitary confinement
Can't promise this I be the last prison post, but I hope you enjoy it.
Prisons are strange places very atmospheric during the day. I don't think I could walk around an empty one, day or night lol xx