May 14 2008
Reading gaol
According to Wikipedia Reading (HM Prison) is the county gaol of Berkshire and formerly the site of executions. It was built in a cruciform shape in 1844, Victorian. It’s about the same age as the new old wendy house and built in the back-yard of the Abbey on the site of an old leper colony. Now its a ‘Young offender Institution and remand centre’ (1999 HM Govt report - includes interviews with prisoners)
Famous people incarcerated there include:
- Oscar Wilde: 1895-1897, 2 years hard labour for sodomy. The Ballard of Reading Gaol was written after his internment, dedicated to a man executed during Oscar’s internment.
- Stacey Keach: 1984, 6 months for possession of cocaine.
2 of your thoughts on Reading gaol
