.jpg/2000px-No_way_in_-_or_out!_(geograph_4488937).jpg)
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
HM Prison Erlestoke
HM Prison Erlestoke is a Category C men's prison, to the east of the village of Erlestoke in Wiltshire, England. Erlestoke is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is the only prison in Wiltshire.
The prison is built around Erlestoke House, a country house built by Joshua Smith, MP for Devizes, between 1780 and 1810. The estate was sold in 1919 and for a time a tenant of the new owner used the main house as a guest-house. From 1939 it was the home of the Army's Senior Officers' School; in 1950 the central house was severely damaged by fire but the school continued in the wings until 1961.
A single-storey lodge from the early 19th century stands at the roadside entrance to the grounds of the house. The lodge, together with gate piers and wrought iron railings of similar date, is Grade II listed.
The site was first used by the Prison Commission in 1960 as a detention centre, and many buildings were added in the grounds of Erlestoke House. The site became a young prisoners' centre in 1977, and a Category C adult male training prison in 1988.
In 1998, it was reported that thieves had broken into Erlestoke Prison and stolen £3000 worth of gardening tools from a shed. Two years later, two inmates from Erlestoke used a makeshift ladder in a daylight jailbreak. The two escapees then stole a car from a nearby farm, but then crashed it, and were subsequently recaptured by the police.
In December 2001, an inspection of Erlestoke by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons found cells in the oldest part of the prison had damp walls and poor furniture. Cleanliness was also criticised, as was the ability of some staff "to adapt to new ideas on rehabilitation" at the prison. However, a year later, a report declared Erlestoke Prison one of the best in the country, with a Government official describing the inspection report as "astoundingly good".
In March 2005, a report from the Independent Monitoring Board found that violent incidents at the prison had dramatically increased, to 1,400 annual incidents from its previous 800. In 2005, an employment tribunal awarded nearly £400,000 damages to a white prison officer of South African descent for "enduring years of racial abuse" in connection with black prisoners targeting him for his clearly identifiable accent. According to the officer, he had received little assistance from the prison's management.
In 2009 the prison was rated as one of the worst in the UK, but it improved after Andrew P.P. Rogers became governor. He worked to change the reputation of the prison from what the papers had called a "third world prison" to one of the top three prisons in the country.[citation needed] In 2011, Rogers put together a musical performance of West Side Story, performed by an acting academy and prisoners.
Hub AI
HM Prison Erlestoke AI simulator
(@HM Prison Erlestoke_simulator)
HM Prison Erlestoke
HM Prison Erlestoke is a Category C men's prison, to the east of the village of Erlestoke in Wiltshire, England. Erlestoke is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and is the only prison in Wiltshire.
The prison is built around Erlestoke House, a country house built by Joshua Smith, MP for Devizes, between 1780 and 1810. The estate was sold in 1919 and for a time a tenant of the new owner used the main house as a guest-house. From 1939 it was the home of the Army's Senior Officers' School; in 1950 the central house was severely damaged by fire but the school continued in the wings until 1961.
A single-storey lodge from the early 19th century stands at the roadside entrance to the grounds of the house. The lodge, together with gate piers and wrought iron railings of similar date, is Grade II listed.
The site was first used by the Prison Commission in 1960 as a detention centre, and many buildings were added in the grounds of Erlestoke House. The site became a young prisoners' centre in 1977, and a Category C adult male training prison in 1988.
In 1998, it was reported that thieves had broken into Erlestoke Prison and stolen £3000 worth of gardening tools from a shed. Two years later, two inmates from Erlestoke used a makeshift ladder in a daylight jailbreak. The two escapees then stole a car from a nearby farm, but then crashed it, and were subsequently recaptured by the police.
In December 2001, an inspection of Erlestoke by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons found cells in the oldest part of the prison had damp walls and poor furniture. Cleanliness was also criticised, as was the ability of some staff "to adapt to new ideas on rehabilitation" at the prison. However, a year later, a report declared Erlestoke Prison one of the best in the country, with a Government official describing the inspection report as "astoundingly good".
In March 2005, a report from the Independent Monitoring Board found that violent incidents at the prison had dramatically increased, to 1,400 annual incidents from its previous 800. In 2005, an employment tribunal awarded nearly £400,000 damages to a white prison officer of South African descent for "enduring years of racial abuse" in connection with black prisoners targeting him for his clearly identifiable accent. According to the officer, he had received little assistance from the prison's management.
In 2009 the prison was rated as one of the worst in the UK, but it improved after Andrew P.P. Rogers became governor. He worked to change the reputation of the prison from what the papers had called a "third world prison" to one of the top three prisons in the country.[citation needed] In 2011, Rogers put together a musical performance of West Side Story, performed by an acting academy and prisoners.