Womens' Tower, former prison cells and exercise yard

Women's Tower, Former Prison Cells and Exercise Yard

A former women's prison comprising a tower, exercise yard and cells, all built in 1837 to supplement the existing prison provision of the adjoining Ypres Tower. A renovation project was completed in 2013.

Women's Tower

The tower is built of coursed stone rubble with dressings of ashlar or brick. It is square in plan, two storeys high, with a crenelated parapet concealing a modern flat roof with a central lantern. Access is via a single doorway in the north elevation. An internal straight stone staircase runs up the internal west side, providing access to the upper floor.

The principal elevation faces north. The single entrance is to the west and has a tooled stone lintel, above which is a stone plaque reading "VICTORIA REGINA AD 1837". To the east are two windows, one lighting each floor. On the ground floor the original cell bars are retained; the first floor has a modern timber casement. The west wall has a single loophole window at first floor level with an ashlar surround, lighting the internal stair. The south and east elevations each have two similar pairs of windows, one to each floor, now blocked. These south and east windows were probably never proper loopholes but rather faux loopholes designed to help the tower blend with the Ypres Tower. Rainwater goods are original cast iron.

The tower is entered through a cast iron nine-panelled door, opening into a small stone-flagged area at the base of the stairs. To the east is a doorway leading into the ground floor cell. Its original planked cell door, with an observation hatch and iron studding, is secured against the north wall. The cell has a stone flagged floor and a projecting brick chimney stack in the east wall. The original fireplace has a very shallow brick arch with an iron grate (a period replica). A replica wooden candle sconce has been fixed to the chimney breast above. The room is lit by a single barred cell window in the north wall.

The staircase leads up to a second cell door on the first floor, in situ and planked with iron studs on its interior face. The upper cell is now used as an office and store and has been modernised with a modern timber casement in the north wall and a flat roof with central lantern, all of 2013.

Cells

The former cells are built against the east face of the Ypres Tower and use that wall as their rear (west) wall, also parts of the tower's turrets as their south and north walls. They are two storeys high with two mirror-image cells to each floor. The upper floor is reached via stone steps up from the north gate into the exercise yard; the lower cells via stone steps down from the same gate. Each cell is accessed via a door in the east elevation.

The cells are built of coursed stone rubble with a mixture of stone and brick dressings. Each cell has an individual solid wooden planked door. The upper cells and the ground floor south cell have a small cell window high in the wall above and outside their respective doors. The ground floor north cell's window is immediately above its doorframe. All windows have cell bars with secondary modern glazing behind. A downpipe between the pairs of cells is original cast iron. A modern metal safety balustrade has been installed on the first floor external landing and down the side of the steps into the exercise yard.

All cells have paired doors: an inner and an outer door. The external doors are wooden plank doors with iron hinges and iron studding internally. The inner doors are similar but have heavy duty locks and small observation grills; the inner door to the first floor south cell has been replaced with a modern timber glazed door as this room has been partly modernised for use as an office. The two ground floor cells retain simple brick flat-arched fireplaces. The first floor cells have brick barrel-vaulted ceilings and stone wash basins. At the time of inspection in November 2015, the cells were in use as stores, the contents of which may have masked other historic features.

Exercise Yard

The former exercise yard is roughly trapezoidal in plan, enclosed by walls built of stone rubble with some small areas of coursed brick. It is accessed via a gateway at the west end of the north wall. The yard occupies the space between the Ypres Tower and cells and the Women's Tower.

The external face of the north wall is of stone and brick, with stretcher bond brick courses occupying the bottom third at its northeast corner, running between that corner and a shallow stone buttress to the west. The external face of the east wall is entirely of coursed stone rubble with a small buttress at the northeast corner. The south wall external face is also entirely of coursed stone rubble. Although a difference in colour to the upper courses might suggest later rebuilding of this section, the presence of original anti-escape iron spikes on the interior suggests this is unlikely to have been rebuilt since 1837. The wall steps up at its junction with the Ypres Tower (where the cells are located internally) and is crenelated. High up the wall here is a small barred window with a replacement ashlar stone surround, lighting the interior of the first floor south cell. A small battered brick infill exists at the junction of the south wall and cells with the Ypres Tower. All walls have triangular-profile cap stones.

The internal face of the north wall has brick courses in the central portion. Towards the northeast corner are two horizontal iron ties. The south wall internal face has brick at the junction with both towers, and a brick section to the east of the Ypres Tower where the bottom third of the wall is brick. All walls except for the western portion of the north wall are battered towards the top. Iron anti-climb spikes run along the full length of the south wall until it steps up to the cells, and along parts of the north and east walls.