H M Prison Dartmoor: A and B Wings

Two attached cell blocks, set on a linear north/south axis. B Wing, to the south, designed by Sir Edmund du Cane, was built between 1880 and 1885; A Wing, to the north, dates from 1906-7. There are late-C20 or early-C21 internal alterations.

MATERIALS: squared granite rubble, with rock-faced granite quoins and granite ashlar dressings. The roofs have been replaced with metal sheeting, and the windows have been replaced.

PLAN: together, the blocks form a long rectangular footprint, with projecting ablution wings to west and east. The entrances, at the north end of A Wing, and in the centre of the east elevation of B Wing – are both served by late-C20 covered walkways. Attached to the centre of the west elevation is a shower block, thought to date from the 1950s.

EXTERIOR: B Wing is sixteen bays long, and is set on ground which slopes downwards to the south and east; as a consequence, the building is essentially four storeys high, with an additional lower floor or basement to the east and south-west, where the ground slopes downwards. A band of rock-faced granite marks the level of the basement on the west elevation, in the centre of which is a projecting ablution wing with heavy quoins. The building’s small horizontal windows have plain ashlar surrounds. Above the upper windows runs a corbel-course supporting a rounded cornice, above which a clerestory is set back. The clerestory windows are blocked; instead there are inserted lights in the metal roof. There is a tall plenum tower rising against the centre of the clerestory at the centre of each elevation; these towers are slightly battered towards the base, and have projecting cornices on corbels.

The design of A Wing reflects that of B Wing. A Wing is twenty bays long, and four storeys high, its windows similar in form to those of B Wing, and a similar corbelled cornice. A Wing has no clerestory, but has a pitched roof with inserted lights. The central ablution towers, to west and east, have outer faces, and rise through corbelled stages to a gabled stack. There are also two central plenum towers, with corbelled detailing as on B Wing.

INTERIOR: the interiors of both A and B Wings have been completely refurbished, with modern fittings throughout, though the original cell layouts remain.