HMP Barlinnie, A Hall

HMP Barlinnie is a purpose-built prison complex designed by Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson, principal architect to the Scottish Prison Commission, from 1880 and opened in 1882, with subsequent phases of early development continuing up to 1908. The works from 1878 to 1888 were supervised by A. Macpherson, draughtsman and clerk of works to the Prison Commissioners for Scotland, with J. Meikle & Sons as construction contractor. The prison is located within the residential area of Riddrie to the northeast of Glasgow city centre.

The prison features five four-storey accommodation blocks, designated A, B, C, D and E Halls, arranged in a parallel layout at the south of the prison site. They are built of light-coloured coursed sandstone with ashlar margins and quoins. Each hall has overhanging bracketed eaves and large round-arched windows to their gable ends. They each have small rectangular-plan projecting towers at the centre of their long side elevations which originally housed sanitary facilities. Each hall contains around 200 cells, with 50 cells to each floor.

A Hall, built in 1882, and B Hall, built in 1883, both have pointed arched entrance porches at the north elevations with raised crown motif and 'A' and 'B' motifs above a round arched entrance with raised quoins and semi-circular fanlights. The elevations feature regularly-spaced small rectangular window openings and string courses between floors. Their pitched roofs are slated with a central lightwell along the ridge and feature 13 pairs of evenly spaced stone ventilation chimneys.

C Hall, built in 1887, and D Hall, built in 1892, feature simple shallow projecting entrance arches at the north elevation, regularly-spaced shallow-arched window openings and string courses between floors. The roofs have later replacement sheet metal covering, six interspersed lightwells along the ridge and three pairs of large octagonal stone ventilation chimneys.

E Hall was built in 1896 and has regularly-spaced small rectangular window openings with flush semi-circular arch motifs above. It features a simple raised rectangular entrance with projecting cornice at the north elevation. The roof has later replacement sheet metal covering, six interspersed apex rooflights and three pairs of square stone ventilation chimneys.

The interior of the halls, partially seen in 2024, comprise a corridor plan with floors of regularly spaced, shallow barrel-vaulted cells opening off either side of the corridor. The floors are supported on curved iron brackets. The majority of cell doors have been replaced however a small number of 19th century cell doors survive in A Hall. The interior of D Hall has been altered with ceiling partitions between the floors and new stairs and railings.

A single-storey rectangular-plan former gatehouse, dating to 1887, is attached to the former northwestern boundary wall of the site. The external (western) elevation is built of ashlar sandstone and is designed in a Classical style featuring a large semi-circular arched opening with keystone, flanked by wide pilasters and topped by a projecting entablature section with an overhanging cornice. The opening has been filled in and is no longer in use. The internal (eastern) elevation is of coursed sandstone with ashlar margins and is of simpler design, featuring a central shallow arched opening with rounded coping stones. The interior was not seen in 2024.

A former infirmary and store dating to the 1890s are located immediately southeast of the former gatehouse. They are built of coursed sandstone with ashlar margins. The principal north elevation of the former infirmary is two storey, nine bay with an off-centre, advanced pedimented bay with roundel to the pediment. Attached to the east is a two-storey, five-bay store with lower single bay addition at the east gable. It features round arch windows spanning two storeys interspersed with later small rectangular openings. The roofs are slated, with a central lightwell at the ridge of the former infirmary and full length lightwell across the ridge of the former store.

Located between B and C Hall is a rectangular-plan chapel completed in 1893 with a small projecting rectangular-plan pitch-gabled apse at the south. The east and west elevations are seven bays, with tall lancet windows interspaced by pinnacle buttresses. It is designed in a simple Gothic style with pointed arched windows with stone tracery and stained glass. It has a pitched slate roof with small bellcote at the north gable. The main entrance door, now accessed by a later covered walkway, is timber panelled with large decorative iron hinges. The interior features a timber roof with decorative trusses supported on stone corbels. There is an encaustic tile floor with a monochrome chequered central panel. The pews have been removed.

At the southeast of the site, to the east of E Hall, there is a single-storey former work sheds building, completed in 1908. The building comprises four adjoining rectangular-plan ranges with pitched roof spans. It is built of brick and covered in white painted render. The principal (northwest) elevation features coped gables with roundel openings to the centre. Internally, the iron roof structure remains exposed in some of the ranges, with some areas having later lowered ceilings and internal partitions. The pitched roofs of the ranges are covered with sheet metal.

A tall coursed sandstone boundary wall with rounded coping, dating from the late 19th century, surrounds much of the southern section of the prison site. At the western perimeter, the wall extends south from the later 20th century reception building round to the southern perimeter where it spans the length of the site from D Hall to A Hall. A section of wall of the former northern perimeter of 19th century wall extends from the reception building east to the former gateway. Another section of the former 19th century wall survives to the north of A Hall, with a large rectangular opening.

The Prison Act of 1877 nationalised the prison system, bringing all prisons in the United Kingdom under the control of the Home Secretary, rather than County Boards. Under the 1877 Act, police cells were legalised as places of imprisonment for up to 14 days, rendering some smaller local prisons redundant. The closure of many small prisons, leading to increasing centralisation, meant pressure on accommodation in the larger prisons. In the period between 1839 and 1862, the city of Glasgow saw seven of its prisons close, leaving just the North Prison on Duke Street.

Increased pressure on prisons in the western district of Scotland led to the recommendation for a new prison to be built outside of the city of Glasgow. The purpose of the new prison was to relieve pressure elsewhere, allowing the closure of inadequate local prisons at Campbeltown, Rothesay, Airdrie, Hamilton and Lanark. In 1879 a 32-and-a-half-acre site to the northeast of the city, that had been part of the farm of Barlinnie, was purchased. The architect and engineer to the Scottish Prison Department at the time, Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson, then drew up plans for the new prison. The Glasgow Evening Citizen reported that the original plans included four accommodation blocks which were four storeys high and could house 200 prisoners each.

Construction of the new prison at Barlinnie began in 1880 with the prison opened in 1882 on completion of the first accommodation block, A Hall. Barlinnie was designed to be a legal place of detention for all descriptions of criminal prisoners, and an Order in Council in 1882 declared the prison to be a General Prison for Scotland. Demand for accommodation meant that building continued with each new block coming into use on completion.

Building continued through the 1880s with the former gatehouse, infirmary and store completed. A governor's house was built to the south of the site as well as accommodation for a chaplain and doctor outside of the gate, all of which have since been demolished. In 1890 a link corridor between halls A, B and C was built. The fourth hall, D Hall, was commissioned in 1892 and the chapel was completed in 1893. In 1894 a new cell block, E Hall, was built to meet the sudden rises in the number of short-term prisoners at certain times of year such as Christmas and New Year.

The outline of HMP Barlinnie is first shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map (Revised 1892 to 1893, Published 1896). At this time the prison is shown in semi-rural location with some accommodation for prison staff shown immediately south of the prison boundary wall and the industrial site of Barlinnie Fireclay works to the north. Plans provided of the site from around the 1930s show the accommodation halls complete and linked by walkways, as well as the rectangular-plan work sheds built to the east of E Hall. By this time new facilities including a gymnasium and new office block adjacent to the gatehouse are also shown. The Ordnance Survey map NS6366SE (Revised 1967, Published 1968) shows additions made to the west and east of the work sheds.

A new female block was built in 1955 which later became the Special Unit accommodation from 1972 until 1994. The accommodation halls were modernised with concrete additions to the south of the halls to provide bathroom facilities in 1975. The perimeter of the site was extended to the north after the late 1960s, more than doubling the area of the prison site. A Segregation Unit was built between A Hall and E Hall in 1983. Various alterations to modernise the facilities at the prison have taken place in the late 20th and early 21st century including the construction of a modern reception building at the northeast of the site including visiting areas and the fitting of the late 19th century prison cells with in-cell sanitation.