It was fine from the front, but when I went around the back, the yards were absolutely full of oranges, full of rubbish. What I remember is red kidney bean tins empty, orange peels, and that was the main thing. But heaps of orange peels, it was staggering. Later I figured that they were kind of making hooch, that’s why there was so much juicing. I was thinking “wow, they must really like their vitamin C.” They weren’t interested in vitamin C.
We want to understand what these prisons are like to live and work in, and how has this changed over time. We are examining the ways that these prison buildings carry traces of the past, while operating in the present day.
The project considers how and why these buildings have survived for so long, and asks how we will know when they have reached the end of their operational lives. We consider the significance of the Victorian prison in shaping public and professional ideas of what prison should be like. Crucially, this project explores the implications of the continued operation of Victorian-era prisons for the contemporary prison service, and aims to inform policy development.