page_title: HM Prison Shepton Mallet
section_title: British military use
hierarchical_section_title: HM Prison Shepton Mallet / Use during the Second World War / British military use
caption_attribution_description: English: Photos of HMP Shepton Mallet taken March 2018
context_page_description: HMP Shepton Mallet, sometimes known as Cornhill, is a former prison located in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. When it closed in 2013, it was the United Kingdom's oldest operating prison, and had been since 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.
context_section_description: In September 1945 the prison was once again taken over by the British Army and became a British military prison ("glasshouse") for service personnel. It was used for soldiers who were going to be discharged after serving their sentence, provided that sentences were less than two years. (If more than two years, the sentence was served in a civilian prison.)
  Amongst the soldiers held here were the Kray twins who, while serving out their national service in the gaol after absconding, met Charlie Richardson. Discipline was very strict and the punishments meted out to prisoners were reportedly extremely severe. On 10 March 1959 a riot (officially termed a mutiny) began in the dining hall. Thirteen soldiers were subsequently tried by court martial, and five were sentenced to three years' imprisonment; the remainder were acquitted.
caption: The inside of the main entrance
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