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history |
Barlinnie Prison was built to provide increased and improved accommodation for prisoners in the west of Scotland. The original plan was for a prison consisting of 4 separate blocks, each providing accommodation for approximately 200 prisoners, with room for further expansion. The site, outside the city boundary, was purchased in 1879 and construction began in 1880. Barlinnie was created a place of legal detention for all descriptions of criminal prisoners in Scotland by an Order by the Secretary of State of 27 Jun 1882 made under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877. An Order in Council of 26 Jul 1882 declared the prison to be a General Prison for Scotland. Each block of the prison was brought into use on completion, and the first prisoners arrived at A Hall on 15 Aug 1882. B, C and D Halls were completed between 1883 and 1892, and overcrowding necessitated the building of an additional block, E Hall, by 1896, which increased capacity to approximately 1000 prisoners. The construction of Barlinnie allowed the Prison Commissioners to close the inadequate local prisons at Campbeltown, Rothesay, Airdrie, Hamilton and Lanark, and eased overcrowding at Glasgow (Duke Street) Prison. Between 1973 and 1994 the Special Unit at Barlinnie, based in the former women's wing, provided an experimental unit for the most violent and disruptive prisoners in Scotland. Operating in isolation from the rest of the prison, the Special Unit aimed to encourage the development of positive social and other skills by allowing the prisoners a more relaxed regime and the opportunity to contribute to decisions affecting the running of the Unit. There were 10 single cells in the Unit but the maximum inmate population was in practice 8 prisoners. Barlinnie has also been known as HM General Prison in Shettleston. |