Former Her Majesty's Prison Shrewsbury

Former Her Majesty's Prison Shrewsbury

This prison complex comprises four interconnected cell blocks designated A, B, C and D, arranged in a telegraph pole plan with wings A and C extending from the north-east side of the principal B wing. The buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries and represent phases of prison development and reform.

Materials and Construction

B wing displays red facing bricks laid in Flemish bond, with stone dressings to the Governor's House section. The remainder of this wing uses large plum-coloured bricks. A, C and D wings are built of plum-coloured brick laid in English bond. All roofs are slate-covered, with A and C wings featuring roof lights running along the ridge.

B Wing

This wing comprises two and three storeys. The south-west face consists of a recessed central range with a projecting centre and projecting pavilions at each end. The original symmetrical arrangement of 2:4:3:4:2 bays has been disrupted by later additions but remains discernible in outline.

The central projection, originally the governor's house, has three bays topped by a pedimental gable. At ground floor centre stands a stone door surround with shaped brackets supporting a flat, moulded stone canopy. A stone band at the height of the arched fanlight's springing extends across the entire 18th-century façade. Flanking the door are full-height canted bay windows with steeply-hipped roofs, apparently 19th-century additions. The first floor has three round-arched windows with metal glazing bars and margin glazing, probably added when this area became a chapel occupying both first and second floor levels. The pediment contains a circular panel at its centre.

Either side of the central projection, the wing has round-arched windows at all three levels. All ground-floor arcade openings have been blocked and converted to windows where visible. Later 19th or early 20th-century additions built against the lower walling at both ends obscure the ground floor bays. At left, a mid-20th-century reception block was added. The furthest right bay of the recessed portion and the right-hand pavilion were entirely rebuilt in the 1880s to form a new governor's house, which has a higher roofline than the original building, cambered arches to the openings and stepped eaves.

The north-east face of B wing is partially concealed by the attached A and C wings. At centre is a blocked doorway with plain stone surround. To its left are three closely-spaced windows with plain stone surrounds, and to the right a wide door with stone surround now converted to a window. At far left is a wide arched opening, partially blocked and now containing a narrower doorway. Further left, a boiler house in the re-entrant angle between B and C wings masks more ground-floor walling. First-floor windows have arched heads with a stone band at the level of the arch springing. The leftmost window, above the ground floor arch, is wider. A further stone band runs below the plain brick parapet, which appears to have been rebuilt in the 19th century. Cross-ridge chimneystacks also appear to be 19th-century rebuilds. A large 20th-century metal extractor pipe runs up and across the front. The north-western end pavilion has 20th-century additions built against its ground floor on the north-eastern and north-western sides.

Inside B wing, extensive alterations have occurred. One ground-floor room in the governor's house retains its chimney stack with a late 20th-century neo-Georgian fire surround and a wall safe. An 1831 map shows an apsidal staircase hall at the building's centre, now removed. At first-floor level, the chapel created by joining the first and second floors has been subdivided by inserting another floor. Ground-floor rooms either side of centre have groin vaults that appear to have been part of the original open-air arcades designed by Haycock. Two later 19th-century staircases with metal balustrades survive.

A Wing

This four-storey wing has cells arranged on both sides of a central hall. It faces north-west and south-east with 22 bays on each side. Each front has flat walling at ground floor and pilaster buttresses dividing the bays of the three upper floors. The wall tops have stepped courses and a cogged band. Windows have segmental heads, stone sills and original grilles. The windows themselves were replaced in the late 20th century and the external bars are supplemented by horizontal bars. At the centre of the south-east front projects a two-bay ablutions wing.

The hipped roof has four large plenum chimneys for extracting foul air and a further smaller chimney over the ablutions tower. The north-east front has pilaster buttresses as before. The lateral bays are blind but the centre has three bays of windows illuminating the hall and landings.

Inside, a central top-lit light well has iron staircases and landings either side. New staircases and balustrade panels were fitted to the gallery landings around 2007. These are heavier than the original iron panels and required new brackets to supplement the originals, which still support the landing floors. The original pattern of both balustrade and staircase can be seen at the top of the block where a walkway connects the attic spaces above the cells. Scars in the brickwork show where lamp windows allowed night-time illumination of cells by warders.

Cells are entered through chamfered door surrounds with cambered heads. Doors are a mixture of wooden doors with bolt-heads, some possibly original, and late 20th-century steel doors. Cells have cambered window heads, cambered vaulted ceilings and original grilles in their upper and lower walls for pumping in hot air and extracting stale air. The ablutions annexe at the centre of the south-eastern side was converted to showers when lavatories and basins were fitted to each cell. Some cells have had dividing walls removed to create double cells, and one triple cell is used as a servery.

C Wing

This two-storey wing also faces north-west and south-east, though cells are arranged only along the south-eastern side with a hall and landings opposite. It has twelve bays divided by pilaster buttresses at first floor level. The south-east side matches the detailing of A wing. The north-west side is blind. Windows have stone sills, segmental heads and original grilles. The windows themselves were replaced in the late 20th century and the bars are supplemented by horizontal bars. The north-east end was originally connected to a contemporary laundry block, now demolished. This wall is blind and whitewashed.

Inside, original landings and balustrades survive with cast iron staircases with ramped handrails, balustrade and timber roof trusses. Wooden cell doors appear largely original. The ablutions annexe located between cells 6 and 7 on each floor was converted to showers in the later 20th century, as in A wing. Scars in the brickwork show there was a lantern recess to the right of the exterior of the cell doors.

D Wing

This three-storey wing has had its interior plan altered. The entrance hallway with stone flags and original dogleg staircase survives, but no chimney pieces remain and there are few other fittings.

The following 20th-century structures are specifically excluded from the listing: the L-shaped block to the north-east housing workshops, chapel, multi-faith space, gymnasium and education block; the freestanding rectangular workshop block south-west of the gymnasium; additions to the north-east, north-west and south-west of the kitchen block; the freestanding rectangular block south-east of the kitchen block; the boiler house in the re-entrant angle between B and C wings; the single-storey workshop range between B and D wings; the L-shaped addition including the reception area attached to the south-west face of B wing; the L-shaped addition attached to the north-west and north-east faces of B wing connecting to the north-west flank of A wing; the boiler house attached to the north-east face of A wing; the lavatory block attached to the north-east face of the link corridor between A and C wings; the three freestanding blocks housing the staff canteen, cleaning store and generator forming a line south-east of C block and the kitchen; and all 20th-century interior fittings to cell blocks A, B, C and D and to the kitchen block.