Styal

Coordinates: 53°20′55″N 2°14′55″W / 53.3485°N 2.2485°W / 53.3485; -2.2485

Styal is a village on the River Bollin near Wilmslow, Cheshire, England.

Styal is a commuter village, with access to Manchester. The village is dominated by Quarry Bank Mill and much of its housing is the mill's estate. The mill and the surrounding country park are owned by The National Trust. It was once an area known as Pownall Fee. Samuel Greg had the village built for the workers of Quarry Bank Mill.

Styal railway station is on the line linking Crewe, Wilmslow and Manchester Piccadilly. The line opened on 1 May 1909. The station now has a reduced Monday – Saturday service (eight trains in each direction); a campaign was launched in 2008 to lobby for more services. Sunday services every two hours were launched in May 2009 to coincide with the line's centenary.

The state primary school is on the Styal National Trust estate.

HMP Styal is a women's prison which opened in 1962 and occupies some former buildings of the Styal Cottage Homes. These Homes were open from 1898 to around 1956 and housed destitute children from the Manchester area.

HM Prison Styal

HM Prison Styal is a Closed Category prison for female adults and young offenders in Styal, Cheshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

History

The prison occupies some former buildings of the Styal Cottage Homes. These opened as an orphanage for destitute children from the Manchester area in 1898. In 1956 this closed and the site re-opened as a women's prison in 1962, with women transferred from HMP Strangeways.

From 1983 Styal began holding young offenders, and in 1999 a wing was added to accommodate unsentenced female prisoners following the closure of Risley's remand centre. This increased the size of the prison by 60%.

In June 2003, Styal Prison was singled out as having one of the worst records for suicides in England and Wales. The Howard League for Penal Reform called for an independent inquiry into the jail, stating that bullying, drugs and overcrowding were probable causes for the high number of deaths.

In June 2004, an inspection report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, stated that inmates at Styal Prison were being put at risk by a lack of support during drug withdrawal and with mental health problems. The report also expressed concern about the use of special cells to hold disruptive prisoners, including self-harmers. However, the report did praise the prison's staff-prisoner relations, education provision and resettlement services. The Chief Inspector also said that race relations at Styal were "among the best" she had seen.