HM Prison Shrewsbury aka The Dana - Cell Block

The History of HM Prison Shrewsbury aka The Dana

Constructed in 1793 by Thomas Telford, the original HM Prison Shrewsbury aka The Dana was famous for being a prison of executions. Prior to changes in the Law, the Catagory B/C prison saw numerous executions by hanging which drew large crowds from the location population. The site was rebuilt in 1877 in its current form. It is noted that even as late as 1972 during redevelopment works, remains of executed prisoners were being discovered buried on the site.  During its latter years of service, HM Prison Shrewsbury was known for its severe overcrowding, housing almost double the intended capacity of inmates.

The Grade II listed Prison finally closed in March 2013 and has sat abandoned ever since while planning permission is being sought to convert the site into housing.

Our Visit

Shortly after the closure of the site, the building was taken over by a tour group which allow members of the public to visit the building either on organised tours, event days or self-guided tours. We thought one would be worth a look so Lowri and I ventured down to have a mooch around late one sunday afternoon. We were fortunate enough to be one of the only people there and so pretty much had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours. We managed to see most of what the building had to offer to enjoy the photos:

If you’ve made it this far… thanks for reading / checking out the pictures. Leave me a comment below or hit the like button to let me know you’ve enjoyed the shots and to encourage me to keep posting more 🙂

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