Central Block (Wings A & B and Chapel) former Her Majesty's Prison Gloucester

Central Block (Wings A & B and Chapel) former Her Majesty's Prison Gloucester

A cell block comprising Wings A and B with a prison chapel wing, built between 1844 and 1850, incorporating an earlier gaol gatehouse of 1786–91. The former gaol was begun by architect William Blackburn and completed around 1810 by John Wheeler, County Surveyor, for the County Magistrates. The 1840s cells and chapel were probably designed by Thomas Fulljames, County Surveyor. The building has undergone twentieth-century alterations.

The building is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings, some rusticated, and slate roofs. The interior stairs and balustrades are of cast and wrought iron.

The plan consists of a long range facing east with a central, slightly recessed, entrance block and an axial chapel wing extending to the rear (west). The central entrance block was originally the gatehouse entrance to the prison and was converted during construction of the wings to each side and the chapel wing to the rear. Attached to the rear of the chapel wing is a modern boiler house and kitchen block. A covered walkway connects the south end of the main block with a single-storey range of buildings of various dates and former uses, which are excluded from the listing.

The central block and wings are three storeys high; the chapel wing is two storeys. The symmetrical front of the main block features a central entrance with a rusticated stone archway and flanking warders' lodges. The north and south wing façades have rusticated banding and plinths continuing to the end elevations. Some window openings to the façade have dropped cills and disturbed brickwork. A footbridge has been attached connecting to a 1970s cell block to the east. The end elevations feature a central recessed bay with a full-height semicircular-arched window with glazing bars. The remains of a former timber hanging drop are visible in the right bay of the south end. To the rear, the chapel wing has four bays, each with a large semicircular-arched window with glazing bars on the first floor. Smaller semicircular-arched windows are on the ground floor. The elevations have stone dressings, including keystones to the windows. The west end of the chapel has a central ashlar stack with a blank arch and keystone.

Internally, the central entrance block opens into a vestibule with cell wings to the north and south and the chapel wing to the west. Wings A and B contain three storeys of galleried cells accessed by cast-iron stairs. The stair and gallery railings are original wrought-iron rails on cast-iron posts. The base of each post is formed as a lion's paw which holds cast-iron balcony brackets shaped as twisted serpents, symbolically representing justice controlling evil. The spandrel of each bracket features a Tudor rose detail. The galleries provide access to rows of cells on each side of a central open well within each wing. The rooms in the central block have been modified to form offices with oriel windows facing the stairwell, and sealed openings. Cells directly flanking the central block have been enlarged to incorporate the neighbouring cell. The upper storey of the main wings has a heavy dentil cornice above the cell doors. The barrel-vaulted ceiling incorporates semicircular dormer window recesses, evenly spaced. Most gates and doors are modern, although a single original cell door remains in the cell block. In the twentieth century some cell walls were removed and areas refitted to form communal washing spaces. The chapel is at first-floor level and has a gallery at the west end, supported on console brackets with a panelled balustrade. The roof is later, featuring exposed metal tie-rod trusses. At ground-floor level, the chapel wing has modern subdivisions incorporating Doric columns of the 1840s.

For the purposes of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, the twentieth-century interior fittings are declared not to be of special architectural or historic interest.