The prison was built between 1856 and 1861 on the site of an earlier prison. The new 220 cell ‘total institution’ had separate wings for men and women, a chapel, a debtor’s jail and was built to exacting standards as laid out by the reformers. As the needs and interests of society as a whole changed, the prison’s inmate population shifted over the years. It was used largely as a debtor’s prison for many years, but this all changed in 1869, when imprisonment for debt was abolished. From 1887 parts of the jail were used by the Royal Navy, whose occupation lasted until 1922.
In 2015 work began to open a heritage attraction: the Grade II listed original jail building was derelict in many places. Now, in addition to the immersive and state-of-the-art visitor attraction, the site has a hotel within the listed building, retaining many of the original features of the jail.
