visit dorchester prison

Dorchester Prison

Dorchester prison was a working prison until its closure in 2013. It now hosts regular tours and events.

The present Dorchester Prison cost £18,000 to build and was completed in 1795. It was built on the site of the old medieval castle built in 1154 but disused from about 1290. The previous gaol was situated in High East Street. Prisoners were segregated by their sex and the type of conviction. The prison buildings are of a typical Victorian design with wings radiating from a central hub with galleried landings.

Last Hanging at Dorchester – Elizabeth Martha Brown a grocer aged 45 and mother of two was the last woman to be hanged in public in Dorset and was executed outside Dorchester Prison in 1856. She was convicted of the murder of her second husband, John Brown, on July 22, the prosecution said she had attacked him with an axe after he had taken a whip to her.

Thomas Hardy, a young lad of 16 years and who later went on to become a world famous writer and poet was among the crowd of 3,000 or so who witnessed the hanging of Elizabeth Martha Brown. He wrote 70 years later that he was ashamed to have been there and the hanging of Tess in Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) is undoubtedly inspired by his experience of watching Brown’s death.

James Seale was the last person to be hung at the gates of Dorchester prison on 10th August 1858. He was tried and found guilty of murder and his name went into the history books as the last man to be hanged in public in Dorset. The Victorian age could no longer tolerate public executions as entertainment.

Dorchester prison was operated by Her Majesty’s Prison Service serving the Crown and Magistrates’ courts in Dorset and some in Somerset until 2013.

The prison received adult male and young adult male prisoners direct from the Crown Courts at Dorchester, Poole and Bournemouth and associated magistrates’ courts. The Prison operated as a Level 4 establishment and the population is made up of roughly half convicted prisoners, and half remanded inmates. Whilst there prisoners can participate in new skills courses such as catering and industrial cleaning whilst the physical education department offers recognised qualifications for a variety of health and training programmes.

Improvements were made following the 2007 inspection report from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons which had stated there were too many inmates, and too little investment in the prison buildings and facilities. Conditions improved to an extent, and the prison which has a capacity for 252 was awarded ‘Most Improved Prison for 2008′. The prison was closed in 2013 and sits awaiting development.

SEE & DO

7 N Square, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1JD

Contact Details

Telephone: 0330 111 8227

Email: info@gloucester-prison.co.uk

Visit website

Opening Times

Open when specific tours and events are on only. To book the space for an event please contact using details.

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13 PRISON MUSEUMS YOU CAN VISIT IN THE UK

Want to explore the darker side of social history? These 13 old prisons in the UK have opened their doors to visitors and put their grisly pasts on display. You can learn about the most notorious of criminals, the wrongfully imprisoned, the executed and the terrible conditions many of them lived and died in. Several of these prisons offer events such as ghost tours or even sleepovers in the cells. Read on to find out more.

Dartmoor Prison, Princetown, Devon

Photograph © Brian Henley

One of England's most famous prisons, Dartmoor has been a prison for over 200 years, situated on the windswept and foggy moors.

It was built to hold prisoners of the Napoleonic War, who started arriving in 1809. By 1813 they were joined by American prisoners, and the prison soon became overcrowded, leading to outbreaks of contagious diseases and thousands of deaths. In the Victorian Era it held convicts who were considered the worst criminals in the land, although it now houses only Category C prisoners - those who are preparing for release.

The prison museum is not your typical modern museum with stark lighting, gleaming surfaces and sterile out-of-context exhibits. It is a quirky, slightly ramshackle place which makes it all the more appealing. Exhibits include objects made by the prisoners out of bone, prisoner and guard uniforms, cells, items with secret compartments for keeping contraband hidden, handmade weapons such as knuckle dusters, shivs and shanks made from toothbrushes.

It is fascinating in a rather dark way and the fact that there is a sign informing visitors that the museum is sometimes staffed by prisoners, adds an extra frisson of interest to the whole experience.

Dartmoor Prison Museum website >>

Shepton Mallet Prison, Shepton Mallet, Somerset

Shepton Mallet was built in 1610 when it was decided that the eastern part of Somerset should have their own House of Correction.

Men, women and children were all housed together for a variety of crimes, whether debtors, vagrants or just mentally unwell. Conditions were bad, with regular outbreaks of fever, jaundice, venereal diseases and many more unpleasant illnesses, with the bodies buried in unconsecrated ground just outside the prison.

Many executions were carried out in the prison whether by firing squad or hanging. Executioners included the famous Albert Pierrepoint, who executed about 600 people during his career. For World War II, the prison was used by the British and the American military, as well as safe storage for the National Archives from London, including the Magna Carta and the Domesday Book. The Kray Twins were held here in the 1950s after absconding from their national service.

The museum closed in 2013 and is now a tourist attraction, hosting not just sight seeing tours, but also ghost tours after hours, an escape room, and even the opportunity to spend the night behind bars, with free rein to explore the place at night.

Read about my Night Behind Bars at Shepton Mallet prison >>

Bodmin Jail, Bodmin, Cornwall

Photograph © Bodmin Jail Attraction

Built in 1779 on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, the prison was ground breaking in prison reform at the time, with individual cells, separate areas for men and women and prisoners paid for their work.

The prison was completely re-developed by 1861 and included a chapel and a debtors' jail, until 1869 when imprisonment for debt was abolished. From 1887, part of the jail was used by the Royal Navy, who were there until 1922. Over the years there were 55 executions on site, 8 of them being women.

The last prisoner left in 1916, and the jail was decommissioned in 1927.

The jail has been open as a tourist attraction for some time, but was recently overhauled and now has a lot to offer the visitor, including an immersive 'Dark Walk Experience', Ghost Tours, After Dark Tours, Scary Cinema and even a hotel being built in the site for visitors. The jail has the only original Victorian hanging pit left in the country (pictured), the Naval prison cells, an in depth look at the stories behind the administration of the prison and overall it looks like a fantastic place to visit.

Bodmin Jail Website >>

Shrewsbury Prison, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Photograph © Shrewsbury Prison

Built in 1793, Shrewsbury Prison was built to replace the prison in the castle, which was crumbling so badly that prisonners could escape by removing bricks from the walls. Known as 'the Dana' after Rev Edmund Dana, a local vicar and magistrate, the prison was a place of execution for many years, with public hangings which attracted large crowds.

The prison was decomissioned in 2013 and is now open to visitors, with a wide variety of tours and events on offer. Guided tours by ex-prison officers during the day or after dark, tours underground of the original prison, escape rooms, a 'prison break' event, nights spent in the cells, ghost hunting, live music, even axe throwing; it is all on offer here.

Shrewsbury Prison website >>

Clink Prison Museum, Southwark, London

There has been a prison on this site in Southwark, London from 1151. Owned by the Bishops of Winchester, the prison was part of the estate, and included heretics as well as local criminals.

No-one is quite sure how the Clink got its name - whether from the clinking of the chains the prisoners wore, or of the cell doors slamming shut, but it has now become a universal term for prisons.

This one became the most notorious of prisons, with massive amounts of corruption and prisoner degradation. By the 16th century, the prison largely held people who disagreed with the Bishops, and after that mainly held debtors. After a decrease in numbers, the prison burnt down in a riot in 1780 and was never rebuilt.

The museum is built on the original site, and contains just a single wall left from the original building. It covers over 600 years of history with a self-guided tour which looks at the assorted inmates, debauchery of the Southwark area and artefacts connected with the prison.

Read about a visit to the Clink Prison Museum >>

Littledean Jail, Gloucester

This one is best avoided by children and those of a sensitive disposition, as the warnings on their website will attest. Describing their museum as politically insensitive and bizarre, there is a huge rage of items on display. Exhibitions look at Witchfinders, Satanism, the SS and the Holocaust, the KKK, instruments of punishment and torture, police memorabilia and a whole host of other subjects. It is not all the dark side though, as their subject matters include the bravery of the SAS and people like Violette Szabo of the S.O.E .

Littledean Jail was built in 1791, and little has changed since it was first built. It has held all manner of prisoners, including children as young as 8, and is believed to be one of the most haunted prisons in the country. It was also used as a police station and a court for 20 years from 1854.

Read the website before you go to make sure you want to - reviews on Trip Advisor range from 'fantastic' to 'absolutely disgusting', so make sure you know what you are getting into.

Littledean Jail website >>

Gloucester Prison, Gloucester

Built in 1792 as a County Jail, this men's prison has been renovated and added to over the years, including the addition of a Young Offenders Wing in the 1970s.

It was the site of many an execution, with the last one taking place in 1936. By the early 2000s it had a reputation as being seriously overcrowded, as well as bad conditions for the inmates and subject to repeated flooding.

The prison closed in 2013 and its re-development is still under discussion. In the meantime however, it is open to the public for guided tours and a variety of events.

Visitors can take guided tours which are family friendly or which included more details on the executions, paranormal activity and violence. Various paranormal groups run ghost hunts in the prison, as do Salvation-Z - a live action Zombie survival experience, or combat games.

Read about a visit to Gloucester Prison >>

National Justice Museum, Nottingham

A Victorian Courtroom Photograph © National Justice Museum

The National Justice Museum is in a Grade II listed building, on a site which has been in use as a court since 1375 and a prison since 1449. The current building was a Victorian police station, gaol, courtroom and execution site, making it a one stop shop for the judicial process. Executions were held on the front steps of the building, with the last public execution held in 1864 of a Richard Parker, who shot both of his parents after a drunken row.

The building ceased use as prison in 1878, but continued as courts and the meeting place of the County Council until 1991. It opened as a museum in 1995 and objects on display include the cell door of p laywright Oscar Wilde, the bath from the Brides in the Bath murder case, gibbet irons, force feeding equipment used on Suffragettes and conscientious objectors and the dock from Bow Street Magistrates Court, which was used in notorious cases such as the trials of Oscar Wilde, Roger Casement and the Krays. T here are over 40 000 objects and archives, making it the UK’s largest collection relating to law, justice, crime and punishment.

National Justice Museum website >>

Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast

Built in 1845, 'the Crum' in North Belfast was a County Gaol for men, women and children, who were often imprisoned for offences such as stealing food and necessities.

Executions were carried out in public at the gaol until 1901, when an execution chamber was built inside. 17 executions were carried out in the prison, including the final one in all of Ireland in 1961. The prison had some well known prisoners from the Troubles, and two prisoners were killed when a IRA bomb went off in one of the wings. The prison closed in 1996.

The prison is now not just a tourist attraction, but hosts concerts, live events and party nights. Tourists can do the Crumlin Road Gaol Experience, a self-guided tour around the building which includes the tunnel linking the courthouse on the other side of the Crumlin Road to the hanging cell, the historic holding cells and the graveyard.

Read about visiting Crumlin Road Gaol >>

York Castle Prison, York

Photograph © Visit York

Part of York Castle Museum, there has been a prison on the site for nearly 1000 years, with a castle built for William the Conqueror in 1068, which included a prison.

The site is still in use for criminal justice, with York Crown Court held in the 18th century court and people are still held in cells here, including those accused of the most serious crimes.

The prison buildings were built in the 18th century, and visitors can explore the original cells. Conditions were terrible at the prison, with 15 to a cell sleeping on bare floors and living off bread and water. Many of the Keepers of the prison were as corrupt as the inmates, and they made as much money as they could off the prisoners. The most notorious prisoner held here was the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin, who was found guilty of his crimes at York Court and sentenced to death at the gallows.

The museum is part of a visit to York Castle Museum, which looks at many aspects of life in historic York.

York Castle Prison Museum website >>

Prison & Police Museum, Rippon

Photograph © Rippon Museums

There has been a prison on this site since 1684, when a Workhouse and House of Correction was established for putting the poor to work and punishing those who had broken the law. In 1816, it was incorporated into the new Liberty Prison, which is the current museum building. Prisoners were held in cells on the ground floor, with debtors on the floor above them. Inmates had to do hard labour and worked for 10 hours a day, walking the treadwheel amongst other tasks.

The prison later became the police station, until it became a museum in the 1980s, one of three in the area which also include a workhouse museum and the courthouse, giving a fantastic look at poverty and justice in the region. The prison museum includes a look at policing from the Anglo-Saxons onwards, as well as an exhibition in the prison cells about life in a Victorian prison.

Rippon Prison and Police Museum website >>

The Old Gaol Museum, Buckingham

Photograph © Buckingham Old Gaol

Built in 1748, this Gothic prison provided terrible conditions for the inmates, who lived in damp cells with no heating, lights or bathrooms, and who were fed on just bread and water.

The prison housed local convicts, although one in three were just poachers, often held for the smallest of crimes.

Over the years, the prison has been used as a Police Station, Fire Station, ammunition store and an air-raid shelter. Faced with demolition in the 1980s, the prison was bought by a charitable organisation, and it now houses the local museum as well as the Old Gaol.

The museum focuses on local history, spanning time from the Ice Age to World War I. It is also home to the Lenborough Hoard of 5,000 Anglo-Saxon silver coins as well as a permanent exhibition dedicated to Flora Thompson, author of Lark Rise to Candleford .

Buckingham Old Gaol Website >>

Dorchester Prison, Dorchester, Dorset

A Victorian prison built in 1885 on the site of a much older prison, Dorchester was closed in 2013 and is now awaiting its fate from developers.

In the meantime, you can take guided tours from Ed who is still a serving prison officer and who used to work there. He provides a fascinating insight into the life of this prison, showing you round this now crumbling site. There were several executions here, including that of Martha Brown who is said to still be haunting the prison, and whose execution was watched by Thomas Hardy, inspiring the hanging he wrote about in Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Visitors can also join paranormal nights and airsoft combat games within its walls.

Read more about visiting Dorchester Prison >>

Want to delve even deeper into prison history? Try the Prison History website which looks at UK prison history from 1500 - 1999.

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Explore by location, explore further, hm prison dorchester, dorset.

The Daily Mail would have you believe that the country’s prisoners are sat in five-star accommodation with flat-screen TV’s and a Playstation in every room. There’s not much evidence of that in Dorchester prison. It is grim. Pure Victorian detention in all it’s glory – and it’s wonderful!

It’s hard to believe that such a bleak, harsh building could be turned in to 189 homes. But that’s exactly what developers City & Country plan to do. The blueprints look promising & the inclusion of a museum is a nice touch. The site is of important historical & archaeological significance and was also the location of the last public hanging in Dorset. City & Country’s track record with this type of building is thankfully a good one.

Walking up to the main entrance, it’s tall & imposing, and as you go up the stairs there’s quite a condescending motto aimed at anyone about to spend time at her majesty’s pleasure… “Holding the key to a brighter future” – I suspect raised eyebrows from many inmates!

HM Prison Dorchester has two main wings and with room for less than 300 prisoners, at the time of closure in 2013 half were convicted prisoners, and half remanded inmates. Before the doors closed for the final time in 2013, Dorchester prison had a bit of a rollercoaster last few years. 2008 saw the prison labelled “the most improved prison” after suffering with serious drug problems & over-crowding.

The tiny cells are a real eye-opener. And my description of grim is all too true. Damp & blackspot litter the cold, stone block walls, the only heating source is a pipe running down one side of the cell. The metal framed bunk-beds have an air of torture about their features, and in the corner, a stainless steel toilet with nothing but a curtain to divide you from your cellmate. A brief, comical moment of panic sets in as we shut the cell door behind us only to find the all the handles removed, an all too real-to-life experience! The whole wing feels very claustrophobic, with cages all around you and just enough room for one person on the walkways.

A lot of the prison is locked down (unsurprisingly) and difficult to explore fully but as we moved to the outside we noticed a stained glass cross on a higher level. Heading back in we found the chapel, modern in contrast to the interior of other rooms in the prison.

After taking one last walk around the wings to make sure we hadn’t missed anything, we made our way out. A walk that inmates of Dorchester prison would have enjoyed, I’m sure!

Important, noteworthy & interesting comments are highlighted below

I was there a few times early 2000’s, and these photos bring back memories. I would like to go if it is still possible and see if some old graffiti is still there and to just remember how far I have come.

There’s actually a few tours coming up. A company that does tours at Gloucester prison has started at Dorchester; https://www.gloucester-prison.co.uk/ourshop/cat_1742373-Dorchester-Prison.html

Hi. Thought you might like an update on the Dorchester Prison tours situation. If your readers go to: http://www.dorchester-prison.co.uk and follow the links, dates are up for the next two months. This will also link through to the tickets page.

Good afternoon Ed,

We just wanted to say a big thank you for today. I am the lady on first tour 12 noon 1st April 23 ( who wore the b/w hat and told you I needed to find the toilet at end of your talk, we talked about Luther film and I said I loved historical buildings. Ian and I thought it was a brilliant place to visit and you made the tour fun and informative. I hope your throat feels better after today. Thank you again

UCAP Airsoft have got the site at the moment. Great day airsofting in this eerie prison.

We went here and couldn’t get in how do we do it?

Any luck since?

I have been in Dorch many times and actually won 2 cups for the Chess and Draughts comp – Sad to see it shut but it’s kept me out of trouble closing! Isn’t that Right Mr Churchill 😳

Was in Dorchester 2009 to 2010, it was a good nick, the food was shit though, and it was freezing in there I spent my time sitting on the hot pipe, shame they closed it. It only held around 250 prisoners, met up with some nice people in there.

I spent 4 months, and Christmas there, from October ’62 to January ’63. I was a first timer and they called a first timer a star. I worked with about 8 other stars on an outside farm for the first 2 months. Around Christmas it snowed very heavily and we got snowed in. The last 2 months I spent cleaning up and polishing the bright work on the front gate, as well as making tea for the officer on duty there. Dorchester was known as a ‘cushy nick’ and I look back at that time with fond memories.

This was a great prison (sounds strange I know) but it was. I’ve had a few small sentences here on all wings except D wing obviously. Sad that it shut down.

Despite doing regular (appears to be fortnightly tours) on the Dorchester and Gloucester Prisons website there might to another opportunity to visit parts(?) of the prison for FREE. According to the Dorchester Prison Facebook page there are going to be monthly Farmer’s Markets with the first on Saturday 20th May 2023. I suspect the gym building (as a covered open space) might be what is utilised? Even so there should be opportunities to photograph within the perimeter walls.

Just as an update, the developers appear to have pulled out from converting the prison into flats. There is now a company (Haunted Cells) that has access to it and I went on one of their ‘ghost hunts’ there this Saturday night just gone. It was interesting to see inside the empty building as I live locally. For obvious reasons it was very dark a lot of the time which was very creepy and it’s not a history tour so don’t be disappointed if the hosts can’t answer any questions!

Sadly, I didn’t see the area outside that was mentioned previously with the gravestones of buried prisoners and wonder if these have already been removed?

Just for info there are more ‘Ghost Hunts’ planned for the immediate future

It’s an interest fact that ghosts only come out at night. Haha! A load of old codswallop, but a good way to see inside an important historic building in the town.

Ghosts only come out at night is because that is the time when people’s imagination is at it’s peak.

Really like to visit if they have tours would be great. Any info be much appreciated.

I was never told or saw any gravestones there but I only had access to one exercise yard.

I played Airsoft there the other day and it was awesome. You can pretty much go everywhere and do anything. The best part was hiding in the boiler room which was pitch black.

Are the organisers requiring the use of biodegradable BB’s?

I was in Dorchester on quite a few occasions back in the 1960s and early 70s. Moved to Bournemouth from Liverpool in ’65. Caused mayhem at the prison when I threw talcum powder over the screws who had gathered on the centre waiting to go off duty. Did you know that at that time there was a small grassy area next to exercise yard which was where they buried hanged people… It actually had the grave stone for a donkey there too.

They put me in the mailbag shop after I attempted to escape. Any one remember Mr Honey the governor? Or Mr Smallbone?

I would love to talk to you about your time in there if possible would be a huge thing for me. Thank you in advance.

Hi Robbie, do you remember officer Ken Heath?

I once worked in the Portland Borstal as it was called back then and one of the boys asked me where I came from and I told him Dorchester and he said “Oh, I know Dorchester they got a nice little nick up there.”

First was in there when they had a YOI wing which later was for the nonces. Been on a wing for remand & B wing for convicted prisoners & drug free landing was my second home. True story

When were you in there, on B wing?

My former husband was in there, on B wing, way back in late 1988/89, anyone remember a Timothy Balcombe?

Hi, the early 90s onwards from Bournemouth where was your husband from? Last time I was in there they sent me to HMS Weare aka the boat didn’t get a sea view though.

I remember singing in the chapel in there

Was Mad Frankie Fraser ever in Dorchester prison?

Hi can you get in or has it been knocked down? Thank you

Frank was never in Dorchester.

Yes, but he was never allowed on normal location, only down the block. Every morning the governor doing his rounds would ask him if he was ok, any complaints, that type of thing. All he got back was fuck off. Frazier wanted go on the wings but there was no way. He deffo was there.

Will miss that old place. 1985 onwards

Was John Cannan in there?

How do you get in? Do you need permission and is there an address? :)

I remember being shown the hanging cell/room when I was having a short “break” there. The beam was still in place although everything else was gone the marks on the wall of the old platform/stairs etc. were visible. Didn’t know the old place was coming down would have loved to see it again for old times sake. Strangely enough I have some decent memories from there!

How do I go about contacting someone to visit? Myself and my friend would love to be able to film our college documentary here.

I’d like to do music video over there. What I need to do?

Is it possible to book a tour for a local group (about 15 people)? Is there a charge?

Is it open to public?

Is this place scary because I am very scared after reading this.

I would love to go and visit think they should open for people to have a look before it goes for development.

Is there any day time tours? Or open to the public that walk around the prison?

I am a designer that will be working on this project. I love my job, it allows me to see such places.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Thomas Steckler and I am currently at university in the process of planning a Photo-Journalism based documentary for our course. Our main idea for our documentary will be based on Abandoned Locations with the viewing platform of VR and we are hoping to be able to film in HM Prison as one of our possible locations.

We are looking towards people to interview as part of the documentary to share more insight into the location’s past, why it was abandoned, what you found while designing it etc. Is there any possibility you’d be willing to help us with this whether it’s through a written interview or more preferably a recorded message for us or depending on location if we could film an interview with you. My email address is:

[email protected]

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind regards, Tom

I like dis.

Is this safe? Anyone here? Any drugs or weapons?

Said to have a figure in motorcycling gear that would appear by the fireplace thought to be Laurence of Arabia who used to frequent the pub.

Thanks for this great article.

Do you know how to contact the owners, as I’m interested in making a student documentary there?

Daz I was in Dorchester prison in 2009 it was a right shithole full of dick heads

Great insights and photos that evoke my memories of SW prisons… Decency and dignity delivered by staff in challenging conditions. Inside is by no means an easy option.

I had the pleasure of visiting at the official closing ceremony. We had a tour and was shown all the supposedly haunted spots. Fascinating place. We were lucky as there were no areas off limits and after the official tour, we got to explore at our leisure. Spooky place… not sure I would want to live there!

Hi my husband spent a lot of years at the prison when the only toilet was a bucket. Shame to close down x

Dear Julie,

We are looking towards people to interview as part of the documentary to share more insight into the location’s past, why it was abandoned, what experiences people had there etc. Is there any possibility your husband would be willing to help us with this whether it’s through a written interview or more preferably a recorded message for us or depending on location if we could film an interview with you. My email address is:

Is there a way in looks like a great place to go but is there any cameras or someone watching the place.

It’s completely off-limits to the public & well secured. There’s full time security & an on-site caretaker. I was given special access to the prison along with members of the museum.

Hi, can anyone now visit Dorchester prison? Is it open to visitors? My partner is his younger days spent a lot of time in there, and would like to have a look around. Thanks x

Sadly not. I was given permission to explore the prison along with members of the museum etc. before it’s redeveloped.

Is there a way to book a tour online, I’m looking to go with a friend pretty soon and I don’t want to show up unannounced only to be turned away because I didn’t book a tour in advance. Also is there a fee for the tour?

Not that I’m aware of I’m afraid. You can try to contact City & Country, but their focus is on planning & developing the site not public tours. I would keep an eye/ear out for the public consultations in the local paper. I’m unaware of any future ones as there have already been two (one quite recently). If I hear of anything I’ll update this page with the information.

Dear Sarah,

We are looking towards people to interview as part of the documentary to share more insight into the location’s past, why it was abandoned, what experiences people had there etc. Is there any possibility your partner would be willing to help us with this whether it’s through a written interview or more preferably a recorded message for us or depending on location if we could film an interview with you. My email address is:

I had 2 tours there 99/2001. Loved every moment it’s a part of my life I will not forget I now live in N.Ireland

Great new feed mate, love the account of history too, you’ve got some great piccies here.

As usual… interesting commentary and beautiful photography. Thank you!

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Dorchester Prison tours

Dorchester Prison

UNTIL Saturday 16th April

An opportunity to explore the former HMP Dorchester with Eddie a former officer of the prison.

View the wings, kitchens and chapel, hear how the prisoners lived, Eddie will tell you all you need to know.

Tour lasts around 1 and a half hours.

Secure parking on site included.

Book here .

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Dorchester Penitentiary

4902 Main Street Dorchester, New Brunswick E4K 2Y9

Tel: (506) 379-2471 Fax: (506) 379-4200

Tel: (506) 379-4595 Fax: (506) 379-4629

Dorchester Penitentiary is a multi-level security male facility located in the community of Dorchester, New Brunswick, next to the Village of Memramcook. The land for Dorchester Penitentiary was purchased in 1865 from the Honourable Edward Barron Chandler, one of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation. Dorchester Penitentiary opened on July 14, 1880. It is the second oldest continuously operating corrections facility in Canada.

In April 2014, Correctional Service of Canada marked key milestones in the implementation of several initiatives related to ongoing transformation and renewal, as several institutions across the country were merged, including Dorchester Penitentiary and neighbouring minimum-security Westmorland Institution. As a result, Dorchester Penitentiary, Westmorland Institution, and the Regional Treatment Centre now operates as one institution with medium and minimum sites, under one management team.

Dorchester Penitentiary (medium) has a few structures designated as Recognized Heritage buildings by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office.

Dorchester Penitentiary has medium and minimum security level sites and a multi-level Regional Treatment Centre (RTC). The minimum security site is a residential design model and the rest of the institution is a medium security site with dome design model.

Medium security site rated capacity: 397

Minimum security site rated capacity: 302

Page details

How Dorchester Prison became a dark tourist attraction and filming location for Luther and The Gold

Tours, ghost hunts and even airsoft takes place here

• 08:00, 25 FEB 2023

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A former prison which housed criminals, murderers and held public executions is now enjoying a lease of life as a filming location and dark tourist attraction. Dorchester Prison, which looms over Dorset’s county town, was built on the site of a medieval castle in the 19th century and saw criminals from across Dorset housed there for various minor and serious offences.

The site also saw multiple executions, with the prison also said to be the inspiration behind Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbevilles after witnessing the horrific death of Elizabeth Martha Brown in 1856. The small and tiring prison became overcrowded and was closed by the Government in 2014 as part of a wider plan to reform the prison system.

Nearly 10 years on from its closure, its doors are flung open for guided tours from former staff members, ghost hunts, airsoft events and the occasional filming from Netflix and BBC. Andy Stevens is the Director of Crackingday Ltd, which has helped facilitate such events and has sought to bring an alternative tourism experience in Dorchester.

READ MORE - Luther: The Fallen Sun - How you can visit prison where Idris Elba shot scenes for the film

New lease of life for old prison

Explaining the prison's alternative use, said: “We have a licence to use the prison for various activities in the prison. Airsoft is our key business and we do that twice a month on Sunday.

“Our core business allows us to do other interesting things and I think there is a little bit of a responsibility to offer the historical tours for schools, the public and historians.

“We work with Shire Hall to allow the people to see behind the walls and scenes. There is a lot of thought of the community as well and the council who we work quite closely with.”

Tours involve a former prison officer who will take curious visitors around the wings, visit the kitchen and chapel, share how prisoners lived and even his own experiences of working inside the prison. The sporadic ghost hunts even reveal the prison’s darkest moments, its public execution and retell stories of ghosts that are believed to lurk inside the prison’s wings.

Former prison used to film Netflix and BBC drama

Beyond the tourist events, the prison has become a filming location. Following in the footsteps of Gloucester Prison and Shepton Mallet Prison, production companies have approached Andy and his company to facilitate filming at the prison. Dorchester Prison has been used to double HMP Leicester in BBC drama The Gold in July last year, but also will appear on the big screen in Luther: The Fallen Sun.

The prison welcomes such high-budget productions as they spend money to renovate the site, but also offers a glimpse into what the prison previously looked like. Speaking about the Luther filming, Andy said: "We were approached as it is much easier to do up an old prison than to make a prison set Netflix came in and they were on site for a few weeks.

“They reckon that over £1 million was put into the local economy. They probably spent a couple of hundred thousand on painting and putting flooring in to make what they needed for the set.

“It is quite interesting to have a glimpse of what it would have looked like. It is nice that the building with so much troubled history is now being used for entertainment and it has changed its use and that will be part of the building’s history.”

Film crews for The Gold also carried out a number of changes to make the site double as HM Prison Leicester. Filming commenced in July 2022 and saw actors Hugh Bonneville, Adam Nagaitis, John Draycott, and Sophia La Porta the cast members filming inside the building.

No other film productions are scheduled to come to the prison, but Andy was willing to welcome any crews that wish to film their shows at Dorchester Prison. Despite acting royalty coming through his doors, Andy has not had a chance to meet them.

He quipped: “I missed Idris Elba because I had Covid. But I don’t usually get fazed by meeting famous people”. In the meantime, its usual events will continue alongside the community groups that use the prison’s facilities.

How former prison could be transformed into new homes

Ironically the prison itself is enjoying a stay of execution. City and Country purchased the site in 2014 and were successfully granted plans to redevelop the prison site into 190 homes and convert the gatehouse into a museum. Considering this is a site where people were executed and buried and also has Roman mosaics, this will not be a straightforward task.

Its redevelopment would likely take some time to happen and for now, Dorchester Prison will welcome film crews, famous actors, ghost hunters and curious tourists through its doors. Reflecting on Dorchester Prison’s future, Andy remarked: ”It will happen one day but not immediately. There is much more to consider and plan for and budget. It is not like buying a house and you do it up and flog it.

”It is costing hundreds of thousands to own and maintain the building and they (City and Country) are keen to crack on but it is not a DIY kitchen job, it is a large development.”

You can book tours via the company's website here or on their Facebook page .

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Attempted jailbreak at a Congo prison kills 129 people as chaos erupts with a stampede and gunshots

Congo Jailbreak This image made from video shows state security forces outside Makala prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, following an attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison on Sept. 2, 2024.(AP Photo) (Uncredited/AP)

KINSHASA, Congo — (AP) — An attempted jailbreak in Congo's main prison left 129 people dead, including some who were shot by guards and soldiers and others who died in a stampede at the overcrowded facility, authorities said Tuesday. One prominent activist put the death toll at more than 200.

A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were fatally shot by “warning" shots fired by guards as they tried to escape from the Makala Central Prison in the capital Kinshasa early on Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social media platform X.

“There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order had been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attempted jailbreak.

Shabani did not elaborate on the incidents of rape in the prison, which has both male and female inmates, as well as military personnel facing charges.

It wasn't immediately clear if all 129 fatalities were inmates and officials did not say how the stampede happened.

However, Emmanuel Adu Cole, a prominent prison rights activist in Congo, told The Associated Press that he counted more than 200 people dead in the attack and many of them had been shot. He cited videos shared from the prison as well as inmates he spoke to. The AP was unable to independently verify the videos.

Inmates had increasingly grown frustrated with the poor conditions in the facility, including inadequate beds, poor feeding and poor sanitation. However, authorities failed to act despite warnings, said Cole, president of the local Bill Clinton Peace Foundation, which has in the past visited the prison.

Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report.

The facility has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when members of a religious sect stormed the prison and freed dozens of inmates.

Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala, a prominent Congolese journalist who was recently detained in the prison for months, spoke of its “deplorable and inhumane” conditions and how inmates constantly lack food, water and medical care. Among the inmates are nearly 700 women and hundreds of minors “treated in the same way as adults,” he said.

“Makala is a real chaos (and) every day is a battle for life,” Tshiamala said.

Gunfire inside the prison started around midnight on Sunday and lasted into Monday morning, local residents in the area said.

“Shots were ringing out everywhere,” said Stéphane Matondo, who lives nearby, adding that military vehicles arrived shortly after and the main road to the prison was blocked.

Videos posted online show bodies lying on the ground inside the prison, many of them with visible injuries. Another video shows inmates carrying bodies that appeared to be lifeless and loading them into a vehicle.

There were no signs of forced entry into the prison, which is located in the city center, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the presidential palace.

The attempted escape was plotted from inside the prison by inmates in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, the deputy justice minister, told the local Top Congo FM radio.

In the hours following the attack, officials visited the prison as authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident. Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is in China on an official visit, has not publicly commented.

Calling for an independent investigation, rights groups and the opposition accused the government of using excessive force and covering up the true death toll. An earlier statement from a senior government official on Monday said that only two people died.

Martin Fayulu, an opposition leader, compared the death toll to “summary executions” and said it was an “unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished.”

Makala — among other prisons in Congo — is so overcrowded that inmates often starve to death, activists say. Scores of prisoners have been released in recent months as part of efforts to reduce the number of inmates.

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attempted jailbreak a “premeditated act of sabotage” and promised a “stern response.” His deputy, Samuel Mbemba Kabuya, blamed the country’s magistrates and judges for the overcrowding in prisons, saying people are quickly jailed at the early stage of their trials.

Mutamba announced a ban on the transfer of inmates from Makala and pledged that authorities will build a new prison, among other efforts to reduce overcrowding.

Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Gray walls, books and a Lenin monument: A look inside the lockup where Griner has been held.

At least one other well-known foreigner has spent time there: Naama Issachar, the Israeli-American arrested in April 2019 when the Russian police said they had found marijuana in her luggage.

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By Anton Troianovski and Ivan Nechepurenko

• July 1, 2022

The detention facility just outside Moscow where Brittney Griner , the American basketball star, has been held is a former orphanage rebuilt a decade ago to house women jailed before trial and, separately, women serving their prison sentences.

Its artificially lit, gray painted halls and grim tall walls befit its bureaucratic name: Correctional Colony No. 1, or IK-1.

Thousands of Russian women have passed through it, along with at least one other well-known foreigner: Naama Issachar , the Israeli-American arrested in April 2019 when the Russian police said they had found a third of an ounce of marijuana in her luggage as she was connecting at a Moscow airport.

Ms. Issachar was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on drug possession and smuggling charges before President Vladimir V. Putin pardoned her , 10 months after she was first arrested, as she became a political pawn in the complex relationship between Russia and Israel.

In jail, Ms. Issachar told her mother: “The clouds in Moscow are pretty.”

It was all she could see of the outside world.

Now it is Ms. Griner, also held on drug charges, who is a pawn — American officials call her a hostage of the Kremlin — but the geopolitics at stake, amid the war in Ukraine and Mr. Putin’s showdown with the West, are far more fraught.

In a telephone interview from Israel, Ms. Issachar’s mother, Yaffa Issachar, said that her daughter had cried when she heard about Ms. Griner’s case, telling her: “I know what she’s going through now.”

The mother said that Ms. Issachar had been treated relatively well by her cellmates, but that she feared that Ms. Griner, as a gay woman, could be treated worse because of Russia’s conservative attitudes and restrictive laws surrounding homosexuality.

Yaffa Issachar said her daughter had been moved through three Russian detention facilities, including three months in the one where Ms. Griner is expected to stay through the duration of her trial, which started on Friday. It is in the village of Novoye Grishino, a 50-mile drive from central Moscow.

The Russian authorities have not disclosed Ms. Griner’s whereabouts. The New York Times was able to identify the prison from a photograph published online by a visitor, and the location was confirmed by a person familiar with the case. Ms. Griner has been held in the pretrial detention center of the facility, which also includes a larger penal colony for women serving out their sentences, with its own sewing factory and Russian Orthodox church.

Video footage of the prison available online shows tall, gray walls, old prison bars and a rusty monument to Lenin in the courtyard. Ms. Issachar, who was allowed to visit her daughter twice a month, also remembers the Lenin monument — along with the din of barking prison dogs that, she said, were being trained in the yard.

For Ms. Griner, every day in the facility looks pretty much the same, said Yekaterina Kalugina, a journalist and member of a public prison monitoring group who has visited Ms. Griner in the prison.

The inmates wake up, have breakfast in their cell — usually some basic food — and then go for a walk in the prison’s courtyard, which is covered by a net. The rest of the day is filled with reading books — Ms. Griner has been reading Dostoyevsky in translation, for instance — and watching television, though all of the channels are in Russian, Ms. Kalugina said.

The cell has a separate private washroom, she said, something of a novelty for Russian prisons. Inmates can order food online and use a refrigerator in the cell for groceries. They are allowed to take a shower only twice a week.

Ms. Issachar said it would take as long as four hours to complete the paperwork to enter the prison, with all of the food she was bringing in painstakingly inspected — down to the tea bags, which had to be cut open, their contents emptied into a plastic bag.

She could see her daughter only through glass, and talk to her only through a telephone. She said that her daughter had been allowed weekly visits by a rabbi, who would pass letters between them; under prison regulations, the rabbi was allowed to be in the same room as the inmate.

The isolation for her daughter was severe, Ms. Ishaffar said. “Mommy, the fall started,” she recalled her daughter telling her at one point. “I see the leaves coming down.”

Ms. Ishaffar suggested that Ms. Griner’s family find a priest who could visit her.

“There is somebody watching them,” she said, “but at least it’s a human she can talk to.”

Isabel Kershner contributed reporting.

Anton Troianovski is the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times. He was previously Moscow bureau chief of The Washington Post and spent nine years with The Wall Street Journal in Berlin and New York. More about Anton Troianovski

Ivan Nechepurenko has been a reporter with the Moscow bureau since 2015, covering politics, economics, sports, and culture in Russia and the former Soviet republics. He was raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and in Piatykhatky, Ukraine. More about Ivan Nechepurenko

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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A rare look inside the notorious Russian jail holding an American journalist

For decades, Lefortovo prison has been a symbol of oppression and control in Russia, especially for those who dare to challenge power. It is within these walls that American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in March, remains detained, awaiting trial on espionage charges — which he, the White House and Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal, strongly deny.

Lefortovo serves as a pretrial detention center. Still, prisoners can spend years there. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was at the prison for two years before being convicted on charges of espionage and is now serving 16-year sentence at a penal colony.

Based on descriptions from inmates, lawyers and prison monitors, including letters and sketches, as well as documentaries and photos of Lefortovo, The Post built a portrait of what life is like inside the prison.

Ivan Safronov, a Russian journalist serving a 22-year sentence in Krasnodar for treason, spent over two years in Lefortovo, from 2020 to 2022. In a letter to The Washington Post about his time there, he wrote, “the purpose is to isolate a person, to ‘freeze’ them in order to get confessions from them.”

Lefortovo was built in the late 1800s, during czarist rule, and it lies on the eastern edge of the capital.

The yellow-walled, four-story building was built in the shape of the letter K. Former inmates describe a facility designed to instill fear, isolation and despair.

In the corridors outside the cells, all sound is muted by old, worn carpets.

“They are not for beauty or for pleasing the eyes of prisoners but so that steps do not break the utter crypt-like silence, one that is oppressive and makes your ears ring,” wrote Valentin Moiseyev, a Russian diplomat who was accused of espionage in 1998 and spent 3½ years in Lefortovo, in his memoir “How I Was a ‘South Korean Spy.’”

During Soviet rule, a KGB wing was added to the compound and was later occupied by its successor agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). In the early 2000s, Lefortovo was reassigned from the FSB to the Justice Ministry because of the Council of Europe requirement that prohibits investigative bodies from operating prisons.

But in reality, only a door separates the FSB from the prison, according to a state television documentary about the facility.

Safronov recalled that Lefortovo detainees are allowed daily walks in restricted, yards surrounded by walls at rooftop level. Russia’s penitentiary service regulations say the walks last an hour. A central radio system is often turned on to blast music across the compound — another way to ensure the prisoners can’t hear each other, a guard told the documentarian.

After an initial 10-day quarantine, prisoners are transferred to the cells where they are either kept alone or joined by up to two cellmates.

Each nearly identical cell is approximately eight square meters, no larger than 85 square feet, according to archival plans obtained by Memorial, a Russian human rights group. The description was confirmed by sketches by Alexei Melnikov, a member of Moscow’s Public Monitoring Commission, which documents the treatment of prisoners.

A small, barred window with limited natural light can be opened using a special lever, allowing prisoners to see part of the sky.

The toilet offers little privacy. A tiled half-wall separates it from the nearest bed in the cramped cell.

There is also a sink, a refrigerator and at least one wall cabinet for storing food purchased from the prison store or delivered by family members. A table and chair are bolted to the floor. And there is a TV, which only broadcasts state channels.

Moiseyev wrote in his memoir that during his time in Lefortovo, an officer looked into the peephole every two or three minutes.

Detainees leave their cells only for walks, interrogations, medical checkups or court hearings. They are allowed to take showers once a week, Safronov told The Post.

Former inmates and lawyers who visited Lefortovo describe it as a Soviet time capsule, with shabby floors, thick oil paint on the walls, portraits of Felix Dzerzhinsky, who created the Soviet secret police apparatus, and the smell of dust and old papers.

[ Russia’s Lefortovo prison is a relic of Soviet control that never left ]

Lefortovo served as one of the main sites used by the secret police during Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge in the 1930s. It became a place of violent interrogations, torture and executions.

Psychological pressure

Lawyers, prison monitors and recent inmates interviewed by The Post said they had only read of physical abuse in Soviet-era accounts about Lefortovo, and have not experienced it themselves. It’s the psychological pressure that defines the torment of prisoners there.

“In Lefortovo, its well-established regime and the behavior of the staff suppresses you; from the very first minute, they make it clear that you are nothing, that you are alone here and completely at the mercy of this prison, and that the way out of it is possible only through complete submission to the system that it serves,” Moiseyev wrote.

In his memoir, Russian dissident and writer Eduard Limonov describes how detainees are escorted from their cell to one of the interrogation rooms to the sound of the ominous, metallic clicks. Prison guards snap their fingers or use special metal clickers to warn everyone around to clear the path. The prisoner must not be allowed to see another prisoner in convoy on their way through, Limonov wrote.

“Though they are not beaten, prisoners find themselves in harsh conditions where the possibility of any communication between cells is ruled out,” Melnikov said.

Safronov wrote in his letter to The Post that it took him six months to adjust to life inside Lefortovo.

“The rules of entry into this prison are also the toughest out of all Moscow detention facilities,” said Vadim Prokhorov, a prominent Russian lawyer who frequently visited his clients there, describing how he is thoroughly checked by prison authorities coming in and out of Lefortovo.

Prokhorov explained that there are just about six rooms in the compound allocated for meetings with prisoners, hardly enough for the 200-300 people held there on average, most of whom are part of high-profile cases and need frequent communication with their legal teams.

“I’m sure this is done on purpose,” the lawyer said. “Scarcity and deficit are always beneficial to the officials within a totalitarian system.”

According to Prokhorov, in 2016 lawyers created a draw — numbers in a bag that offer a certain time slot — that would guarantee them access to their client at least once every other week.

Contact with the outside world

While prisoners are restricted from interacting with anyone but their cellmate, lawyers and the prison guards, they are able to send and receive letters. These letters, as in any penitentiary institution in the world, are read and censored.

Technically, phone calls are allowed but prisoners must file a petition, and authorities then review and ultimately have the right to veto requests.

“Since I did not admit guilt, I got only one phone call during my two years in Lefortovo,” Safronov wrote.

Lefortovo is reported to have a good library. Books are routinely checked to ensure that there are no notes or messages in the margins.

Gershkovich’s lawyers said he is keeping himself busy while at Lefortovo.

Following a court appearance in mid-April, attorney Tatyana Nozhkina said Gershkovich remains upbeat and in good health. He spends his time watching culinary programs on TV, exercising and reading Russian classics, including Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”

About this story

The visualizations of Lefortovo’s interiors are based on sketches provided by prison monitor Alexei Melnikov, archival plans published by Memorial, one of the oldest civil rights groups in Russia, and accounts from former inmates and lawyers who visited the prison. The size of the room and placement of furniture vary slightly from cell to cell.

War in Ukraine: What you need to know

The latest: Tensions remained high after a rare series of drone attacks in Moscow damaged buildings on Tuesday. It is a rare attack deep inside Russian territory. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine was behind the drone strikes. Kyiv denied involvement.

The strikes came after Russia conducted another aerial attack on Kyiv, killing at least one person and wounding at least four people. The air raid was the 17th attack in May, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The fight: Russia took control of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine , where thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers died in the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, in late May. But holding the city will be difficult. The Wagner Group, responsible for the fight and victory in Bakhmut, is allegedly leaving and being replaced by the Russian army .

The upcoming counteroffensive: After a rainy few months left the ground muddy, sticky and unsuitable for heavy vehicles in southern Ukraine, temperatures are rising — and with them, the expectations of a long-awaited counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces .

The frontline: The Washington Post has mapped out the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces .

How you can help: Here are ways those in the United States can support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.

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