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Manchester (HM Prison)
Encyclopedia
HM Prison Manchester is a high-security male prison situated in Manchester
, England
operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
. It is a local Prison, holding prisoners remanded into custody from the courts in the Manchester area as well as a number of Category A
prisoners.
HM Prison Manchester was known as Strangeways, after the area of Manchester in which it is located, until it was rebuilt following a major riot in 1990.
, which closed in 1868. The prison designed by Alfred Waterhouse
in 1862, with input from Joshua Jebb
, cost £170,000, and had a capacity of 1,000 inmates. Its 234 feet (71 m) ventilation tower (often mistaken for a watchtower) has become a local landmark.
The prison has an element of the Panopticon with its plan a star or a snowflake shaped building, with two block housing a total ten wings emanating from a central core where the watchtower is situated. The prison building consists of two radial blocks branching from the central core with a total of ten wings (A, B, C, D, E, F in one block, and G, H, I, K in the second).
It was built on the grounds of Strangeways Park and Gardens, which gave the prison its original name, and was officially opened on 25 June 1868. The prison's walls, which are rumoured to be as thick as 16 feet, are said to be impenetrable either from the inside or out.
The prison was open to both male and female prisoners until 1963 when the facility became male-only, and in 1980 it began to accept remand prisoners.
As of 2005 the prison held just over 1,200 inmates.
a special execution room and cell for the condemned criminal was built. Strangeways was also one of the few prisons to have permanent gallows
. The first execution was of twenty-year-old murderer Michael Johnson, hanged by William Calcraft
on 29 March 1869.
Twenty-nine hangings took place in the next twenty years, with a further 71 taking place in the 20th century, bringing the total number of hangings at the prison to 100. However, during the second half of the century, the number of executions decreased, with no hangings taking place between 1954 and 1962. John Robson Walby (alias Gwynne Owen Evans), one of the last two people to be hanged in England
, was executed at Strangeways on 13 August 1964. Out of the 100 total hangings, there were four double hangings, while the rest were done individually. The famous "quickest hanging" of James Inglis
in seven seconds, carried out by Albert Pierrepoint
, took place at Strangeways.
Doctor Buck Ruxton
was executed on 12 May 1936 for the murder of his wife. A petition for Ruxton's clemency was signed by 10,000 people, both sympathetic locals with high regard for this "people's doctor" and abolitionists who mounted a large demonstration on the day of execution. Margaret Allen was hanged on 12 January 1949 by Albert Pierrepoint
for the murder of an elderly widower. Her execution was the first of a woman in Britain for twelve years. and the third execution of a woman at Strangeways.
After the famous seven second hanging
, Albert Pierrepoint executed Louisa May Merrifield on 18 September 1953. Merrifield (aged 48) was the fourth and last woman to be executed at the prison.
During prison rebuilding work in 1991, the remains of 63 executed prisoners (only 45 of which were identifiable) were exhumed from unmarked grave
s in the prison cemetery and cremated at Blackley Crematorium
in Manchester. The cremated remains were then re-interred in two graves (plot C2710 and C2711) at the adjacent cemetery.
The riots resulted in the Woolf Inquiry, and the prison was rebuilt and renamed Her Majesty's Prison, Manchester. Over £80 million was used to repair and modernise Strangeways prison after the riot, with rebuilding completed in 1994.
The prison has been noted for a high suicide rate following the reopening of the prison in 1994. From 1993 to 2003, Strangeways prison had the highest number of suicides among inmates than any other prison in the United Kingdom and 2004, Strangeways had the highest number of suicides in the country.
Education and vocational training at the prison is provided by the Manchester College
. Courses offered include information technology
, ESOL, numeracy
, industrial cleaning, bricklaying, painting and decorating, plastering, textiles and laundry
. The prison's gym
also runs courses in physical education
, as well as offering recreational sport and fitness programmes.
In the book Pollen
by Mancunian author Jeff Noon
two of the central characters visit Strangeways in order to speak to a prisoner. The prison has become a "Virtual" (sic) prison, where the inmates are kept locked in drawers on large amounts of a psychoactive drug that puts them into a permanent, pleasant dreamlike state.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
. It is a local Prison, holding prisoners remanded into custody from the courts in the Manchester area as well as a number of Category A
Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
There are four prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom used to classify every adult prisoner for the purposes of assigning them to a prison. The categories are based upon the severity of the crime and the risk posed should the person escape....
prisoners.
HM Prison Manchester was known as Strangeways, after the area of Manchester in which it is located, until it was rebuilt following a major riot in 1990.
History
Construction of the Grade II listed prison was completed in 1869 to replace the New Bailey Prison in SalfordCity of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
, which closed in 1868. The prison designed by Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
in 1862, with input from Joshua Jebb
Joshua Jebb
Sir Joshua Jebb was a Royal Engineer and the British Surveyor-General of convict prisons.He participated in the Battle of Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and surveyed a route between Ottawa River and Kingston where Lake Ontario flows into Saint Lawrence River...
, cost £170,000, and had a capacity of 1,000 inmates. Its 234 feet (71 m) ventilation tower (often mistaken for a watchtower) has become a local landmark.
The prison has an element of the Panopticon with its plan a star or a snowflake shaped building, with two block housing a total ten wings emanating from a central core where the watchtower is situated. The prison building consists of two radial blocks branching from the central core with a total of ten wings (A, B, C, D, E, F in one block, and G, H, I, K in the second).
It was built on the grounds of Strangeways Park and Gardens, which gave the prison its original name, and was officially opened on 25 June 1868. The prison's walls, which are rumoured to be as thick as 16 feet, are said to be impenetrable either from the inside or out.
The prison was open to both male and female prisoners until 1963 when the facility became male-only, and in 1980 it began to accept remand prisoners.
As of 2005 the prison held just over 1,200 inmates.
As a place of execution
Originally, the prison contained an execution shed in B wing; however, after World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
a special execution room and cell for the condemned criminal was built. Strangeways was also one of the few prisons to have permanent gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
. The first execution was of twenty-year-old murderer Michael Johnson, hanged by William Calcraft
William Calcraft
William Calcraft was the most famous English hangman of the 19th century. One of the most prolific British executioners of all time, it is estimated that he carried out 450 executions during his 45-year career...
on 29 March 1869.
Twenty-nine hangings took place in the next twenty years, with a further 71 taking place in the 20th century, bringing the total number of hangings at the prison to 100. However, during the second half of the century, the number of executions decreased, with no hangings taking place between 1954 and 1962. John Robson Walby (alias Gwynne Owen Evans), one of the last two people to be hanged in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, was executed at Strangeways on 13 August 1964. Out of the 100 total hangings, there were four double hangings, while the rest were done individually. The famous "quickest hanging" of James Inglis
James Inglis
James Inglis was a British man executed for murder at the age of 29.Having confessed to strangling Alice Morgan, a 50-year-old prostitute in Kingston upon Hull on 1 February 1951 after a quarrel over payment, Inglis opted to plead insanity at his trial...
in seven seconds, carried out by Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint is the most famous member of the family which provided three of the United Kingdom's official hangmen in the first half of the 20th century...
, took place at Strangeways.
Other executions
Mary Ann Britland (38) was executed on 9 August 1886 for the murder of two family members and her neighbour. She was the first woman to be executed at Strangeways. John Jackson was executed on 7 August 1879. Thom Davies was hanged on 9 January 1889 for sexual deviancy charges. Lieutenant Frederick Rothwell Holt was hanged on 13 April 1920 for the murder of twenty-six-year-old Kathleen Breaks. Louie Calvert was hanged on 24 June 1926.Doctor Buck Ruxton
Buck Ruxton
Dr Buck Ruxton , also known as Buktyar Rustomji Ratanji Hakim, was a Parsi doctor and murderer, involved in one of the United Kingdom's most publicised murder cases of the 1930s, which gripped the nation at the time...
was executed on 12 May 1936 for the murder of his wife. A petition for Ruxton's clemency was signed by 10,000 people, both sympathetic locals with high regard for this "people's doctor" and abolitionists who mounted a large demonstration on the day of execution. Margaret Allen was hanged on 12 January 1949 by Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint is the most famous member of the family which provided three of the United Kingdom's official hangmen in the first half of the 20th century...
for the murder of an elderly widower. Her execution was the first of a woman in Britain for twelve years. and the third execution of a woman at Strangeways.
After the famous seven second hanging
James Inglis
James Inglis was a British man executed for murder at the age of 29.Having confessed to strangling Alice Morgan, a 50-year-old prostitute in Kingston upon Hull on 1 February 1951 after a quarrel over payment, Inglis opted to plead insanity at his trial...
, Albert Pierrepoint executed Louisa May Merrifield on 18 September 1953. Merrifield (aged 48) was the fourth and last woman to be executed at the prison.
During prison rebuilding work in 1991, the remains of 63 executed prisoners (only 45 of which were identifiable) were exhumed from unmarked grave
Unmarked grave
The phrase unmarked grave has metaphorical meaning in the context of cultures that mark burial sites.As a figure of speech, a common meaning of the term "unmarked grave" is consignment to oblivion, i.e., an ignominious end. A grave monument is a sign of respect and fondness, erected with the...
s in the prison cemetery and cremated at Blackley Crematorium
Blackley cemetery
Blackley Cemetery is a large, municipal cemetery situated within the northern suburbs of the city of Manchester, and is owned, operated and maintained by Manchester City Council...
in Manchester. The cremated remains were then re-interred in two graves (plot C2710 and C2711) at the adjacent cemetery.
Strangeways riots
Between 1 April and 25 April 1990, 147 staff and 47 prisoners were injured in a series of riots by prison inmates. There was one fatality among the prisoners, and one prison officer also died (from heart failure). Much of the original prison was damaged or destroyed during the riots. Several inmates were charged with various offences, and as a result, among others, Paul Taylor and Alan Lord faced a five-month trial as the ringleaders.The riots resulted in the Woolf Inquiry, and the prison was rebuilt and renamed Her Majesty's Prison, Manchester. Over £80 million was used to repair and modernise Strangeways prison after the riot, with rebuilding completed in 1994.
The prison today
The prison is a high-security category A prison for adult males and has a maximum capacity of 1269 as of 4th August 2008. The running of the prison has been put out to tender on two occasions, in 1994 and 2001. Accommodation at the prison is divided into 9 wings in two radial blocks. Cells are a mixture of single and double occupancy, all having in-cell power points and integral sanitation.The prison has been noted for a high suicide rate following the reopening of the prison in 1994. From 1993 to 2003, Strangeways prison had the highest number of suicides among inmates than any other prison in the United Kingdom and 2004, Strangeways had the highest number of suicides in the country.
Education and vocational training at the prison is provided by the Manchester College
The Manchester College
The Manchester College is a further education college in Manchester, England. It opened on 1 August 2008 as the result of a merger between City College Manchester and Manchester College of Arts and Technology to form a 'supercollege'...
. Courses offered include information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, ESOL, numeracy
Numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life...
, industrial cleaning, bricklaying, painting and decorating, plastering, textiles and laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
. The prison's gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
also runs courses in physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
, as well as offering recreational sport and fitness programmes.
Noted former inmates
- Ian Brady, held for theft prior to the Moors murders.
- Harold ShipmanHarold ShipmanHarold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
, held there on remand whilst awaiting trial. - James InglisJames InglisJames Inglis was a British man executed for murder at the age of 29.Having confessed to strangling Alice Morgan, a 50-year-old prostitute in Kingston upon Hull on 1 February 1951 after a quarrel over payment, Inglis opted to plead insanity at his trial...
, the world's fastest hanging. - Christabel PankhurstChristabel PankhurstDame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, DBE , was a suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union , she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 she became a fervent supporter of the war against Germany...
, suffragette, was held for a week. - Joey BartonJoey BartonJoseph Anthony "Joey" Barton is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League side Queens Park Rangers as either a central midfielder or a winger....
, footballer jailed for assault. - Ian BrownIan BrownIan George Brown is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses, which broke up in 1996 but are confirmed to reunite in 2012. Since the break-up of the Stone Roses he has pursued a solo career...
, rock singer jailed for "air rage", released in December 1999. - David DickinsonDavid DickinsonDavid Dickinson is an English antiques expert, television presenter and entrepreneur.-Biography:...
, TV presenter specialising in antiques, imprisoned for fraud in pre-celeb days. - Gordon Park was convicted in 2005 of murdering his first wife, Carol Park, in 1976.
Cultural references
- "Strangeways", a track on the 1987 rockRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
The House of Blue LightThe House of Blue LightThe House of Blue Light is the twelfth studio album by Deep Purple, released in 1987. It is the second recording by the re-formed Mark II lineup....
by Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre... - Strangeways, Here We ComeStrangeways, Here We Come-Band:* Morrissey – vocals, piano on "Death of a Disco Dancer"* Johnny Marr – guitar, keyboards, harmonica, autoharp , synthesized strings and saxophone arrangements* Andy Rourke – bass guitar* Mike Joyce – drums-Additional musicians:...
, 1987 rockRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by The SmithsThe SmithsThe Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
. - 'Mad' Frankie FraserFrankie FraserFrancis Davidson Fraser is a former British criminal and gang member who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.-Early life:...
(1982) was held on 'A' Wing and excused boots for supposed fallen arches. - Eric Allison (1970) went on to be The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Prison Reporter and author of A Serious Disturbance, an account of the Strangeways Riot. A chapter of Eric's book was written by former Strangeways Hospital Officer John G. Sutton. - In the song "There Goes a TennerThere Goes a Tenner"There Goes a Tenner" is a song by the British singer Kate Bush. It was released as a single on 2 November 1982, the third to be taken from her album The Dreaming...
" from the album The DreamingThe Dreaming (album)-Personnel:*Stewart Arnold: vocals, background vocals*Jimmy Bain: bass*Ian Bairnson: acoustic guitar, vocals, background vocals*John Barrett: assistant engineer*Brian Bath: electric guitar*Haydn Bendall: engineer...
, Kate BushKate BushKate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
sings of being "a star in Strangeways". The song is about a botched bank robbery. - The song "Fallowfield Hillbilly", from the album St. JudeSt. Jude (album)St. Jude is the debut album by British indie rock band The Courteeners, which was released on 7 April 2008. There is also a special edition album which includes a second disc of acoustic versions of songs which feature on the actual album...
by Manchester band The CourteenersThe CourteenersThe Courteeners are a rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England in 2006 by Liam Fray , Michael Campbell , Daniel Conan Moores , Mark Cuppello -Formation:...
, refers to Strangeways and the type of people that "indie snobs" perceive to be its inmates. - In the comic HellblazerHellblazerHellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series, originally published by DC Comics, and subsequently by the Vertigo imprint since March 1993, the month the imprint was introduced, where it remains to this day...
, issue 34 (October 1990), the main character John ConstantineJohn ConstantineJohn Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
refers to Strangeways prison "exploding with [excrement] and blood," and describes its holding cells as "Victorian pressure cookers" into which government officials who turn a blind eye should be squeezed to "see what pops out of [their] pimple." - In the TV series ShamelessShamelessShameless is a British television drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4, the first seven-episode series aired weekly on Tuesday nights at 10pm from 13 January 2004...
, Frank GallagherFrank Gallagher (Shameless)Vernon Francis "Frank" Gallagher , is a fictional character from the Channel 4 drama Shameless.-Storylines:Frank's hallmarks are drunken rants on a wide variety of literary, historical and philosophical subjects, usually returning to how decent, hard-working people, among whom he erroneously seems...
often refers to his time in Strangeways. - In the TV series Beautiful PeopleBeautiful People (UK TV series)Beautiful People is a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. The series takes place in Reading, Berkshire in 1997, where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and...
, Debbie Doonan, who dislikes the police, shouts to an officer "them blokes from Strangeways had the right idea," a reference to the Strangeways Prison riot1990 Strangeways Prison riotThe 1990 Strangeways Prison riot was a 25-day prison riot and rooftop protest at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England. The riot began on 1 April 1990 when prisoners took control of the prison chapel, and the riot quickly spread throughout most of the prison...
. - Graham FellowsGraham FellowsGraham David Fellows is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the characters of John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.-Early life:...
, in his comedic persona of John ShuttleworthJohn Shuttleworth (character)John Shuttleworth is a fictional singer-songwriter and radio presenter, created by English comedy actor and musician, Graham Fellows in 1986. Shuttleworth is in his late 40s and is from Walkley in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He has a quiet manner and slightly nerdish tendencies...
, wrote a song that began, "You're like Manchester, you've got strange ways". - "Strangeways Hotel", a song by Mike HardingMike HardingMike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
.
In the book Pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
by Mancunian author Jeff Noon
Jeff Noon
Jeff Noon is a novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works make extensive use of word play and fantasy. Noon's speculative fiction books have ties to the works of writers such as Lewis Carroll and Jorge Luis Borges...
two of the central characters visit Strangeways in order to speak to a prisoner. The prison has become a "Virtual" (sic) prison, where the inmates are kept locked in drawers on large amounts of a psychoactive drug that puts them into a permanent, pleasant dreamlike state.