Medium
Text
Form
Interview quote
Artist / Maker
Former staff member, retired 2021, interviewed 2021
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The overriding thing about Victorian jails and the way they were built, they were built for security. They’re the most secure buildings in the prison system. Modern jails are not built to the same standard… I’ve been in four riots in my career, and each one of those, the modern part of the jail was the worst damaged. And the reason for that is the walls are not secure, [prisoners] can go through the walls. Whereas in a Victorian jail, it’s pretty difficult to go through two foot thick walls… That’s one reason you’re not going to see the end of Victorian jails too soon…. Victorians, as you know, always built things to last.
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.