HM Prison Reading

HM Prison Reading, formerly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service until its closure at the end of 2013. It is a Grade II-listed building.

History

HM Prison Reading was built in 1844 as the Berkshire County Gaol in the heart of Reading, Berkshire on the site of the former county prison, alongside the site of Reading Abbey and beside the River Kennet.

Designed by George Gilbert Scott it was based on London's New Model Prison at Pentonville with a cruciform shape, and is a good example of early Victorian prison architecture. The Pentonville Prison design of 1842 was based on the design of Eastern State Penitentiary of 1829 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It was designed to carry out what was the very latest penal technique of the time, known as the separate system. As a county gaol, its forecourt served as the site for public executions, the first one in 1845 before a crowd of 10,000; after 1868 executions took place inside, the last one in 1913.