Old Town Prison And Attached Courtyard Walls

The Old Town Prison, built in 1835, stands with attached courtyard walls on Shute Hill in Helston. Designed by Henry Penberthy, it is now partially used as flats. The prison is constructed of granite ashlar with a plinth, a ground-floor impost string to round arches, a mid-floor string (now chiselled away at the front), and flat arches to the first floor. The roof is covered in asbestos slate with red brick end stacks.

The ground floor’s plan incorporates eight cells arranged back-to-back behind arcaded passages at the front and rear. A passage runs along the right-hand side, with only those cells heated. The arcades open into small enclosed yards, except for the front right, where walls have been removed. A left-hand yard at the front features earth closets and steps leading up to the first floor, which likely served as the warden's quarters. To the northwest are the former exercise walls; ranges of garages built within them are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.

The building is two storeys high, presenting a regular four-window frontage. It features late 19th-century four-pane horned sash windows, and a 20th-century door is positioned to the left of centre. The ground floor arcades conceal a passage behind lime-washed cell walls, with each cell retaining its original studded door and barred window. The rear elevation mirrors this design, except for the absence of a first-floor doorway. The ends feature rusticated quoins, with the northwest gable displaying a recessed date panel.

Inside the arcades and within the lime-washed cells, the floors are paved with granite setts, and the granite ceilings are supported by iron beams. Two small iron grates are visible within the cells. The first floor was not inspected.

The prison is surrounded by tall rubble courtyard walls, featuring dressed granite quoins and copings which ramp up to the eaves of the prison on the left. Dressed granite piers support the surviving front gate located on the left. The former exercise yard is enclosed by granite ashlar and rubble walls containing ranges of garages; the ground level of the exercise yard has been raised and breaches exist in the walls at the northwest end and the southeast corner.

Historically, the prison was commissioned in 1834 when the Helston Prison Committee received plans from Henry Penberthy, intended to accommodate male and female prisoners, a working men's ward, and two cells for solitary confinement. It was constructed at a cost of £720. The building is historically significant as a rare, complete surviving example of an early 19th-century prison.