Her Majesty's Prison: Wings A, B, C and F including former chapel wing is a Grade II listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 15 February 1993. Prison. 10 related planning applications.
Her Majesty's Prison: Wings A, B, C and F including former chapel wing
- WRENN ID
- scarred-quartz-swallow
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- Bedford MP: Mohammad Yasin (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 15 February 1993
- Type
- Prison
- Address
- Her Majesty's Prison: Wings A, B, C and F including former chapel wing, St Loyes Street, MK40 1HG
- OS grid reference
- TL 047 501
- Coordinates
- 52.13945, -0.47042
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Her Majesty's Prison, which includes Wings A, B, C, and F along with the former chapel wing, is a prison extension built between 1848 and 1849 by Thomas Smith. The structure is made of red brick laid in English bond and features slate roofs with pedimental gable ends and a hipped roof at the center. It has brick axial stacks and a large hexagonal ventilation flue.
The building has a T-shaped plan, with wings radiating from a central hall that contains galleried cells opening onto axial wells. It stands three storeys high and features mostly small segmental arched windows with stone cills, along with large recessed round arch windows at the ends of the wings that rise into the gables. The eaves are adorned with brick modillions. The central hall is slightly taller than the wings, has splayed corners, and includes a large, slightly battered hexagonal ventilation flue at the apex of the hipped roof. The former chapel wing is attached to the south wing and the original block.
While the interior has not been inspected, it is reported to retain its original galleried arrangement. The prison was originally designed by John Wing, and the extension by Thomas Smith included rebuilding the perimeter walls and front entrance, as well as adding the flanking front wings.
Local climate
Her Majesty's Prison: Wings A, B, C and F including former chapel wing sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 10 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- Her Majesty's Prison: governor's office, offices, boardroom, security and reception block
- Her Majesty's Prison: Main entrance and two flanking wings
- Girls High School
- Her Majesty's Prison: Perimeter wall
- 46 and 48, Adelaide Square
- 49, 49A, 51 AND 51A, HARPER STREET (See details for further address information)
- 22 and 24, Bromham Road
- 15 and 17, The Crescent
- 2, The Crescent
- 21 The Crescent