The project ‘The Persistence of the Victorian Prison: Alteration, Inhabitation, Obsolescence and Affirmative Design’ considers the persistence of Victorian prisons in the UK today.
Project scope
In England and Wales, 22,000 prisoners are held in Victorian-era prisons, equivalent to one-quarter of the prison population.
This project explores the implications of the continued operation of Victorian-era prisons, and asks how we will know when they have reached the end of their operational lives.
Project aims
The project aims to answer five questions about the continued use of these historic prisons:
- How has the fabric of Victorian prison buildings changed over time?
- How do Victorian prisons function today?
- What does it feel like to live and work in Victorian prisons?
- How has the cultural framing of the Victorian prison shaped the collective consciousness?
- What is the fallout of the continued operation of Victorian prisons?
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.
Project methods
This interdisciplinary project combines a wide range of methods, including:
- Archival research
- Oral histories
- Discourse analysis of literary and media sources
- Interviews
- Creative methodologies
- Public engagement and co-production
We will engage with people who have experience of living and working in Victorian-era prisons, including current and former prisoners, current and former prison staff, and prison contractors. We will run a series of events to engage with these groups, as well as the general public.
Project team
Dominique Moran
Dominique Moran is Professor of Carceral Geography in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is interested in the relationship between people and places, and she brings this perspective to the prison, focusing on the lived experience of prison spaces, and the ways in which prison buildings influence those who live and work in them, and vice versa.
Matt Houlbrook
Matt Houlbrook is Professor of Cultural History in the Department of History, at the University of Birmingham, UK. He works on the cultural history of 20th century Britain, with particular interests in histories of gender and sexuality, space and identity, and the relationship between culture, crime, and politics.
Yvonne Jewkes
Yvonne Jewkes is Professor of Criminology in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, at the University of Bath. Her main research interests are prison architecture, design and technology, and how they can assist in rehabilitating offenders, enhancing prisoners’ quality of life and wellbeing, reducing trauma, improving prisoner-staff relations, and making prison staff feel like a professionalised and valued workforce.
Eleanor March
Eleanor March was Research Fellow in Interdisciplinary Prison Research in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Birmingham until the end of 2022. Her research has an interdisciplinary focus, working across literature, carceral geography, criminology and history. Whilst part of the project team, Eleanor undertook oral history interviews, discourse analysis of prison literature, and supported qualitative research in prison, as well as leading on project communications, social media and the website. She is lead author of a paper from the project: Defining the Carceral Characteristics of the ‘Dickensian prison’: A Corpus Stylistics Analysis of Dickens’s Novels forthcoming in Victoriographies.
Jennifer Turner
Jennifer Turner is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Birmingham, UK; and a human geographer at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. Her research focuses upon spaces and practices of incarceration, past and present. Most recently, she has interrogated prison architecture, design, technology and their potential to impact upon rehabilitation. Other interests include penal tourism, articulations of the prison boundary and conceptualisations of carceral space. Her work has been published widely in the fields of carceral geography and criminology.
Andy Aitchison
Andy was project photographer, working intensively with the research team during fieldwork at two Victorian prisons, and creating a photographic record of these prisons as they operate today. Andy’s work truly brought the project to life, and it formed a key part of all the project exhibitions. Andy became a documentary photographer in 1994, covering social, justice and environmental stories and campaigns. He works for a wide range of clients, from community-based organisations, charities and NGOs to philanthropic foundations and regularly has his work published in the world’s leading news titles.
Project partners
The Persistence of the Victorian Prison project is based at the University of Birmingham and the University of Bath.
For more information, please visit the University of Birmingham or University of Bath websites.
The Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest penal reform charity in the UK. It was established in 1866 and is named after John Howard, one of the first prison reformers.
This project draws on the Howard League’s wealth of experience, as well as the charity’s archives. We will partner with the Howard League in communicating the outcomes of this research to policymakers and the public.
To find out more, please visit the Howard League website.
Economic and Social Research Council
The Persistence of the Victorian Prison research project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), under grant number ES/T005483/1. The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues.
For more details about the work of the ESRC, please visit the ESRC website.