It is probably not everyone’s idea of a good day out, but the Gloucester Prison Tour was ours! The four of us are all interested in prison life and crime and deviance in general. Lee has a degree in Forensics and was a police cadet, I am interested from a sociological point of view, Chloe is heading off to study Criminology and Criminal Justice and Dyl watches all the real life programmes known to man! Therefore a Gloucester Prison Tour ticked our boxes for a family trip out.
There are self guided tours or guided tours and we totally recommend the guided tour. It costs just £5 more on a family ticket and was well worth it. Our guide Geoff was a former prison officer with over 30 years service, the last 20 being as a serving guard at Gloucester. He bought the tour to life, regaling us with anecdotes and first-hand knowledge and stories. We would have missed out on all of that if we had not been on a guided tour.
The Gloucester Prison Tour took over two hours and we saw the three wings, the old debtors prison, workrooms and the courtyard etc. As went into each area Geoff was able to educate us about life in prison and the various areas of the prison.
Much of the prison is now in complete disrepair but you could actually feel the emotions of the place. I personally was acutely aware of what a hostile environment it was. I could imagine that for the staff and the prisoners that there would always have been an air of caution. It felt like something could happen at anytime. And that was with no prisoner in! I imagine when it was open it was a very hostile environment for everyone.
In addition to learning about prison life we were also told about the history of the different wings. It was interesting to see such beautiful architectural features in such a building. The original buildings date from the 1800’s, there were names scratched into the old brickwork some of it dated from 100 years ago.
We also saw some of the features that are protected as part of listed building status. Whilst the area is set to be redeveloped it will be interesting how it is done as things like the railings and serpents are all protected.
The tour of Gloucester Prison was fascinating and I am so glad we took the opportunity to visit before it is redeveloped. Our family ticket cost just under £50. When we arrived we had a friendly welcome. You can make yourself a hot tea or coffee in the visitor’s room whilst you wait. Around the areas, interesting facts about life in prison and there was much I learnt including how often visits were allowed.
If you have an interest in criminal justice, the history of Gloucester, prisons or even just historical buildings then you will enjoy the tour. You are able to take photos in all areas and wander at your own leisure.
One Response
I’d love to visit somewhere like this, getting to see first hand what it is like on the inside