HMP Shepton Mallet, sometimes known as Cornhill, is a former prison in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. When it closed in 2013, it had been the United Kingdom's oldest operating prison, following the closure of HMP Lancaster Castle in 2011. Before closure, Shepton Mallet was a category C lifer prison holding 189 prisoners. The prison building is Grade II* listed, while the former gatehouse and perimeter walls are Grade II.
The prison was opened before 1625 but was already in poor repair by the end of the First English Civil War in 1646. It was expanded in 1790 but conditions were again criticised in a report of 1822 and further building work was undertaken in the 1820s and 1830s. This included the installation of a treadwheel for those sentenced to hard labour. In 1843 the number of cells was increased by adding a second storey to each wing. The prison was damaged during a fire in 1904. In 1930 the number of inmates had fallen and the prison was closed.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the prison was reopened as a military prison. It was initially used by the British Army and later by American forces who constructed a new execution block to hang condemned prisoners. It was also used for the storage of important historical documents from the Public Record Office in London, including the Domesday Book of 1086. Following the war the prison continued as a military "glasshouse" until it was returned to civilian use in 1966.
The prison was decommissioned in 2013 and now serves as a tourist attraction, with guided tours and other activities.
History prior to the Second World War
17th and 18th centuries
The prison was established as a house of correction in 1625 to comply with the 1610 Bridewell Act of King James I requiring that every county have such a house. The building and surrounding land of was bought from the Reverend Edward Barnard for £160. In the 17th century Shepton Mallet was not the only place of imprisonment in Somerset: the County Gaol was in Ilchester; there was another house of correction at Ilchester; and one at Taunton.
At the time all prisonersmen, women and childrenwere held together in reportedly dreadful conditions. The gaoler was not paid, instead making an income from fees from his prisoners; for example, for providing them with liquor. By the end of the First English Civil War in 1646 the house of correction was described as being in poor repair. During the Bloody Assizes following the Monmouth Rebellion at least 12 local men were held at the gaol before being hanged, drawn and quartered at the Market Cross.
In 1773, a commissioner appointed by Parliament to inspect prisons around the country reported that sanitation at Shepton Mallet House of Correction was extremely poor. He said:
In 1790 additional land was purchased to extend the prison, and around this time men and women began to be held in separate areas. Further extensions were carried out from 1817 to 1822, with the prison holding about 200 prisoners.
19th century
A report into the state of prisons in Somerset by Sir John Hippisley of Ston Easton Park in 1822 criticised the conditions in which prisoners were held. He proposed a five-year plan to expand the prison at a cost of £5,000.
In 1823, a large treadwheel, designed by William Cubitt and built by Stotherts of Bath, later Stothert & Pitt, was installed within the prison, in the 1840s Stotherts were contracted as engineers to build the new Bath City Gaol in Twerton, and later went on to build the treadwheel at that prison. The building for the treadwheel and other new buildings were designed by George Allen Underwood. Men who had been sentenced to hard labour would serve their punishment on this. 40 men would tread the wheel for many hours at a time, a punishment which was recorded as causing hernias in some convicts. The wheel was used to power a grain mill situated outside the prison wall. The wheel remained in use until 1890. Other prisoners were engaged in breaking stones which were used for roadbuilding, oakum picking (unpicking old ropes) and other tasks.
Further building work to designs by Richard Carver, the county surveyor, was undertaken in the 1830s and 1840s. This included the rebuilding of the front range and the addition of the gatehouse. The chapel was built in 1840. The wings were adapted and a second storey added to each one. Additional building work completed the enclosure of the quadrangle or exercise yard.
In 1842 inspectors appointed by the government reported that Shepton Mallet prison was:
Ilchester Gaol closed in 1843, with the inmates being transferred to Shepton Mallet and Taunton. In 1845 the prison was recorded as holding 270 prisoners. By 1897 the population was only 61, overseen by a governor, three warders, six assistant warders and a night watchman. Other staff included a chaplain and assistant chaplain, a surgeon, a matron and a school master. In 1884 it was designated as the county gaol for Somerset under the Prison Act 1877.
The Bristol "baby farmer", 1879
Notorious Bristol "baby farmer" Amelia Dyer spent six months at Shepton Mallet Prison. Her trial was held at Long Ashton on 29 August 1879, and two newspapers report the summing-up of the judge, stating that she would reflect on her actions behind the walls of Shepton Mallet Gaol, for the period of six months under hard labour. Although the court was close to the centre of Bristol, it was within the jurisdiction of Somerset, hence her time at Shepton Mallet as opposed to Bristol Prison.South London Press, Saturday 30 August 1879, page 14The Western Daily Press, Saturday 20 August 1879Shepton Mallet Journal, Friday 5 September 1879, page 3 (B. N. A.)SWHT – D/PS/lo/1/5 Court Register (1876–1880) Long Ashton She was charged with failing to have the necessary permissions or licence for the maintenance of children, and for attempted suicide. She was acquitted on the latter charge.
1904 fire
At 10:15pm on Saturday 2 July 1904 a fire, believed to have been started by a prisoner about half an hour earlier, was discovered in C block.Source: Shepton Mallet Journal 8 July 1904 quoted in The alarm was raised by the ringing of the prison bell and the prisoners were evacuated to the prison chapel. Within ten minutes the town fire brigade, which was provided by the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, was in attendance. They were joined at about midnight by the Wells brigade and at about 3:00am by the Frome and Glastonbury brigades. The fire had spread quickly within C block and was fought by prisoners, warders and firemen working together; prisoners helped to man the hoses and worked the fire engine pumps in shifts.
Despite the opportunity offered by the disruption, no prisoner attempted to escape. There were no fatalities as a result of the fire, and no major injuries. Whilst contemporary photographs show that the roof of C block was substantially destroyed, the building itself, being constructed of stone and concrete, remained nearly intact. Consequently it was not necessary to transfer any prisoners to other jails.
Closure in 1930
In 1930 the Prisoner Commissioners recommended to the Government that Shepton Mallet Prison should be closed because it was under-used, having an average population in previous years of only 51 inmates. The prison closed in September of that year, with the prisoners and some of the staff transferring to other jails in neighbouring counties. The prison remained empty except for a caretaker until the outbreak of the Second World War.
Civilian executions
The total number of executions at Shepton Mallet in its early years is unknown. Seven judicial executions took place within the prison walls between 1889 and 1926: Samuel Rylands (or Reylands), aged 23, was hanged on 13 March 1889. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Taunton, Somerset on 20February 1889 for battering to death 10-year-old Emma Jane Davies at Yeabridge, Somerset on 2January 1889. Henry (Harry) Dainton, aged 35, was hanged on 15December 1891 by hangman James Billington. He was convicted for drowning his wife in the River Avon. Charles Squires, aged 28, was hanged on 10August 1893 by James Billington. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Wells, Somerset for smothering to death his wife's two-year-old illegitimate son. Henry Quartly (or Quartley), aged 55, was hanged on 10November 1914 by hangmen Thomas Pierrepoint and George Brown. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Taunton, Somerset on 20October 1914 for fatally shooting 59-year-old Henry Pugsley at Parson Street, Porlock, Somerset on 3June 1914. Verney Asser, a 30-year-old Australian soldier of the 2nd Training Battalion, was hanged on 5March 1918 by John Ellis and William Willis. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Devizes, Wiltshire on 16January 1918 for fatally shooting his roommate 24-year-old Corporal Joseph Harold Durkin at Sutton Veny Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire on 27November 1917. William Grover Bignell, aged 32, was hanged on 24 February 1925 by Thomas Pierrepoint and Robert Baxter. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Devizes, Wiltshire on 20 January 1925 for fatally cutting the throat of his 37-year-old girlfriend Margaret Legg in a field near Tetbury, Gloucestershire on 25 October 1924. John Lincoln ( Ignatius Emanuel Napthali Trebich Lincoln), aged 23, was hanged on 2March 1926 by Thomas Pierrepoint and Lionel Mann. He was convicted at the Assize Courts in Devizes, Wiltshire on 21January 1926 for fatally shooting 25-year-old Edward Richards at Victoria Avenue, Trowbridge, Wiltshire on 24December 1925.
Their remains were buried in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison, as was customary following British executions.
Use during the Second World War The prison was reopened for British military use in October 1939. It soon housed 300 men from all three armed services, with some having to live in huts in the prison yard.
In November 1940 three British soldiers, who were incarcerated in room 142 close to the B1 landing died of asphyxiation/carbon monoxide poisoning. Another soldier, also held in the same room survived. The names of the soldiers who died were Frank Girvan (of Fife), Glen Roy Williams (Bridgend) and Harold Smith (Manchester).D Cable/British Newspaper Archives:
Shepton Mallet Journal (Page 1) Friday, 14/02/1941
"TRAGIC DEATH OF THREE SOLDIERS"
Shepton Mallet Journal (Page 1) Friday, 07/03/1941
"DEATHS AT DETENTION BARRACKS"
Shepton Mallet Journal (Page 1) Friday, 16/05/1941
"SEQUEL TO DEATH OF THREE SOLDIERS"
Public Records storage With the outbreak of war the prison also took into protective storage many important historical documents from the Public Record Office in London, including the Domesday Book, the logbooks of , the Olive Branch Petition (1775), and dispatches from the Battle of Waterloo. In all about 300 tons of records were transported to Shepton Mallet. Some documents, but not Domesday Book, were moved out of Shepton Mallet on 5July 1942 due to concern at the concentration of important items being held in one place, especially with German bombs falling on nearby Bath and Bristol. During their time at Shepton Mallet the archives were still able to be accessed. The archives were returned to London after the end of the war, between 10July 1945 and 1February 1946.
American military use
Between mid-1942 and September 1945 the prison was used by the American military as the "6833rd Guardhouse Overhead Detachment", later "The Headquarters 2912th Disciplinary Training CenterAPO 508 United States Army". The prison was entirely staffed by American military personnel during this period. The first commandant was Lieutenant Colonel James P. Smith of the 707th Military Police Battalion.
At times during its use by the Americans, Shepton Mallet held many more men than it had before. At the end of 1944 there were 768 soldiers imprisoned, guarded by 12 officers and 82 enlisted men.