HMP Shepton Mallet

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HMP Shepton Mallet, sometimes known as Cornhill, is a former prison located in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. When it closed in 2013, it was the United Kingdom's oldest operating prison, and had been since the closure of HMP Lancaster Castle in 2011. Before closure Shepton Mallet was a Category C Lifer Prison holding 189 prisoners. The prison building is grade II* listed. Its closure was announced in January 2013.History prior to the Second World War17th and 18th centuriesThe prison was established as a House of Correction in 1625, to comply with an Act of King James I in 1609 requiring that every county have such a House. In the 17th century, Shepton Mallet was not the only place of imprisonment in Somerset: the County Gaol was in Ilchester, and there was another House of Correction at Ilchester and also at Taunton. In these times all prisoners, men, women and children, were held together in reportedly dreadful conditions. The gaoler was not paid, instead making an income from fees from his prisoners (for example, for providing them with liquor).In 1773, a commissioner appointed by Parliament to inspect prisons around the country reported that sanitation at Shepton Mallet House of Correction was extremely poor. He said:In 1790 additional land was purchased to extend the prison, and around this time men and women began to be held in separate areas. Further extensions were carried out in 1817 to 1822, at around which time Shepton Mallet held about 200 prisoners.