Maidstone (HM Prison)
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Maidstone Prison is one of the oldest British correctional institutions in the United Kingdom, having been in operation for over 200 years.
Originally serving as a county jail, Maidstone was converted to a prison during the 1740s. During his visits to the prison, prison reformer John Howard reported poor living conditions at the prison including overcrowding and poor ventilation. However, conditions would remain unchanged until a reconstruction of the prison took place under the supervision of Daniel Asher Alexander, who had previously worked on the construction of Dartmoor Prison, lasting from 1811 until its completion in 1819 at a cost of £200,000.
Constructed using Kentish Rag Stone from a local 14-acre quarry, the original design of the prison was intended to house 552 prisoners, including 62 female inmates, by the time the first 141 prisoners arrived in March 1819.
Over the next decade, additions to the prison were made including a courthouse in 1826 as well as individual cells, dayrooms, courtyards and offices attributed to suggestions made by Howard. Other reforms later included a strictly enforced segregation of prisoners by offence and the general improvement of living conditions such as improving the water supply, sanitation and ventilation systems, many of these renovations were made with prison labor over the course of the century.
By the late 20th century, the only remaining signs of the original prison are the large and small roundhouses, the Weald Wing, the Administrative Block, the Training Complex, the Visits Building and the perimeter wall. Today, the prison serves as a "closed training facility" or minimum security prison.
[edit] Further reading
- Whitfield, Dick, ed. The State of Prisons - 200 Years On. London: Routledge Press, 1991.
[edit] References
- Roth, Mitchel P. Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 0-313-32856-0
