# Her Majesties Prison Shrewsbury - September 2016 (Pic heavy... sorry!)



## shatners (Sep 26, 2016)

*HMP Shrewsbury*

So HMP Shrewsbury shut down in 2013… it sat empty for a good while before being bought by a property developer. It’s now going through the planning consultation stages with a number of options being considered and according to local news sites will be sealed up for work to start after Christmas for conversion to student accommodation.

In the meantime it has a guy caretaking it for the developers and in return gets to run events and tours or you can just turn up, throw them fifteen quid and have the place to yourself. It’s not a museum at all, other than a few scraps of paper stuck doors telling you which toilet to use its exactly as it was when it was shut down complete with shit stained cell toilets and porn on the walls and to be honest I was wandering around thinking it’s amazing the developers let anyone just wander in unaccompanied as the place is an absolute health and safety nightmare.

I was in there for four hours ducking under ropes to stroll through the various sections which were supposed to be closed off and never saw a single other person… literally had the entire prison to myself… it really was a smashing way to spend the afternoon.

Anyway, permission visit so wouldn’t normally post but seeing as its not had a report before, will probably be gone very soon thought I would post them up as the current plan seems to be for it to be converted into fancy student accommodation in the very near future!

Ive explained what each photo is of on my homepage dooberer Derpage - Urban Exploration Photography - HMP if your interested.

















































































 

This is C-Wing – single sided, previously used to house women and more recently sex offenders… 

















Prisoners being transferred out at closure





A-Wing three tier double sided cells… double bunks in each








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## shatners (Sep 26, 2016)

Entrance to visitors room





Visitors room













The prison doctors room





Entrance to workshops





Prisoner workshops

































Visitor bays with gourilla glass, mics and speakers x 4





























New prisoner reception area

























Prison Governors Room, empty white room apart from the fireplace





*THE HANGING ROOM* - Shrewsbury has over 30 unmarked graves in the grounds. 10 bodies were re-burried when the sports hall was built and hangings took place in this room up until 1960. The area floor boarded would have been the drop trapdoors with the leave in the recessed section.





A-Wing sowing Royal Mail sacks back in the good old days!





A-Wing just prior to closure





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## Wrench (Sep 26, 2016)

Now then that sir is outchuffingstanding 
I'm liking that muchly. 
Excellent pics and report.


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## smiler (Sep 26, 2016)

Tbolt said:


> Now then that sir is outchuffingstanding
> I'm liking that muchly.
> Excellent pics and report.



What he said, Thanks


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## Conrad (Sep 26, 2016)

Really good stuff here. Quality pictures and write up, a real victory to have got that captured so well before it's gone.


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## Kacy_M (Sep 26, 2016)

Smashing report, thoroughly enjoyed having a nose! Thanks for sharing


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## mockingbird (Sep 26, 2016)

ERM WOW!

I don't mind throwing him £15 quid if I can walk away with shots like yours dude, really admire your eye aswel as your knack for what seems like a fixed lens? 35mm? maybe 40mm? either way dude impressive, now who do I speak too?  excellent constructed report aswel


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## shatners (Sep 26, 2016)

Thanks very much all... much appreciated 



mockingbird said:


> ERM WOW!
> 
> I don't mind throwing him £15 quid if I can walk away with shots like yours dude, really admire your eye aswel as your knack for what seems like a fixed lens? 35mm? maybe 40mm? either way dude impressive, now who do I speak too?  excellent constructed report aswel



Thanks mate... yes sold all my big SLR stuff years ago... use a Sony A7s full frame now with a fast f1.4 35mm Zeiss prime, find using a single fixed lens really makes me stop and think a bit. Plus A7s and f1.4 means you can take photos handheld in really low light with next to no noise so no tripod either, perfect for sneaking around places with nothing to carry


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## Scaramanger (Sep 27, 2016)

Good pics.. That new prisoners reception room has a machine new inmates sit on and can check if they are concealing anything up their backside... &#55357;&#56836;


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## shatners (Sep 27, 2016)

Thanks mate 



Scaramanger said:


> Good pics.. That new prisoners reception room has a machine new inmates sit on and can check if they are concealing anything up their backside... ��



Ahhh yes, you must be referring to the ''Sphincter Stretcher 2000 (c)''... I gave it a go and have been walking like John Wayne ever since


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## krela (Sep 27, 2016)

Great photos shatners! I did the prison escape game thingy here in late spring, it was brilliant. Kinda creepy to be in there overnight.


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## Pilot (Sep 27, 2016)

Nicely done,Sir. Totally agree with your reasons for doing this one. Looks a bit like HMP Slade (Norman Stanley Fletcher's old nick) from the outside, but then most of these Victorian prisons do I guess. Your pics grab the misery of the place nicely. Under the hanging cell, there would have been another where the hangman, after leaving the body suspended for an hour, would have taken it down, stripped it, and prepared it for post mortem. I wonder if it's an ordinary cell? More to the point, I wonder if the old lags in it KNEW they were in a death room? (Shiver).


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## jsp77 (Sep 27, 2016)

Thats a great report Shatners and nicely photographed too.


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## Mikeymutt (Sep 27, 2016)

Love this report so msny crisp clear shots.love the way you use the 35mm for every shot.I have started trying to use my 35mm 1.4 for more use rather than the standard small objects.I am very tempted by the 23mm 1.4 for my fuji though


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## SlimJim (Sep 27, 2016)

Cracking. King of kings among permo visits!


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## ocelot397 (Sep 27, 2016)

Truly excellent.
I grew up in this area and always wanted to see inside, never new it was so old fashioned!


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## Richard Davies (Sep 27, 2016)

I also noticed the Porridge style details.

The BBC weren't allowed to use an actual prison so they had to build a set at Ealing Studios for the block areas using an empty watertank under the floor of a sound stage to get enough depth. The exteriors used the former St Albans jail, by then a council depot. 

Also an undisclosed mental hospital was used, which had to be changed after the relatives of a patient complained after they recognised it on TV & was worried it would give the impression it was an actual prison!

For the film a wing of Maidstone prison was used, as it had been damaged in a fire being refurbished at the time.


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## shatners (Sep 27, 2016)

Pilot said:


> Nicely done,Sir. Totally agree with your reasons for doing this one. Looks a bit like HMP Slade (Norman Stanley Fletcher's old nick) from the outside, but then most of these Victorian prisons do I guess. Your pics grab the misery of the place nicely. Under the hanging cell, there would have been another where the hangman, after leaving the body suspended for an hour, would have taken it down, stripped it, and prepared it for post mortem. I wonder if it's an ordinary cell? More to the point, I wonder if the old lags in it KNEW they were in a death room? (Shiver).



Cheers all.... yeah next to the hang room was the hangman's overnight room, fairly big empty room which was frequently used in the 1950s by Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s last hangman.


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## flyboys90 (Sep 28, 2016)

Smashing photos and report,really enjoyed it.Thanks for sharing.


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## shatners (Sep 28, 2016)

Thank you mate.... definitely got the prison bug now, pricing extendable ladders as I type


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## Potter (Sep 28, 2016)

Superb

"conversion to student accommodation" - Sort of apt 

Great that they let people look round it


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## Judderman62 (Dec 2, 2016)

Fabulous report sir. Been a fan of your output for a while - you are most skilled in the weilding of a camera. I actually think being limited to 35mm has made this report.

I felt somewhat meh and dissapointed at * some* of my images from here and seeing this report has made me decide to pay a return visit to try and come back with more half decent pics.

Well done sir.


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## Pilot (Dec 4, 2016)

Permission visit or not, it's a cracker, and well worth it in my view. Top man!


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## J_a_t_33 (Dec 4, 2016)

Epic report, great work, thanks!


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## UEP-Wales (Dec 4, 2016)

Stunning report there! Thanks for sharing the place!


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## crazyjon (Dec 5, 2016)

Richard Davies said:


> I also noticed the Porridge style details.
> 
> The BBC weren't allowed to use an actual prison so they had to build a set at Ealing Studios for the block areas using an empty watertank under the floor of a sound stage to get enough depth. The exteriors used the former St Albans jail, by then a council depot.
> 
> ...



For the 1979 film of Porridge they used HMP Chelmsford as it was closed for 3 months after a wing had been on fire and the place was being refurbished HMP Pentonville was used for shots in the titles for the tv series


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