Aldershot military prison, known as the Glasshouse on account of its glazed

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

, was the

military prison A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

from 1870 until it was burned down during riots in February 1946 and was finally demolished in 1958.

History

The Glasshouse was one of the most imposing buildings in the 19th-century Aldershot military town. Built in 1870 to house soldiers sentenced for military offences, the building derived its name from its large, glass lantern roof. The term '' glasshouse'' has since become synonymous with all military prison establishments but it has its origins in Aldershot.'Inside the Glasshouse' - the ''

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

'', 30 May 1942 Aldershot's first

opened in 1856 and was made up of standard wooden barrack huts in the North and South Camp and holding around 200 prisoners. An 1864 report from the Inspector of Military Prisons called for the rebuilding of the military prison in cell formation 'to prevent the evils of association'. Re-building of Aldershot's military prison started in 1870 at an estimated cost of about £6,000. Described in ''Sheldrake's Guide to Aldershot'' as a 'large aggressive looking building', the new prison had been constructed in the area bordered on its north and south sides by North Road and Redvers Buller Road, and to the west by James Road. The new three-storey building was very similar to conventional Victorian civil prisons such as

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

and was originally designed to house 165 inmates, considerably fewer than the wooden huts of Aldershot's original prison. Additional building work was carried out to the main buildings in 1880 at a cost of about £5000 while the main cell block was extended after 1885 to create a further 20 cells on each floor. In the 1930s, a medical inspection unit and gymnasium were added. By 1946, the prison held between 400 and 500 prisoners which was more than double the number it had originally been designed to accommodate. This severe overcrowding caused riots on 23/24 February 1946 which led to the destruction of the main building while further damage was caused by the water from high-pressure hoses used to stop the riot. In 1948, the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

considered rebuilding the 'Glasshouse' at an estimated cost of £18,000 but eventually decided against it resulting in the prison being demolished in early 1958.The Aldershot 'Glasshouse'
- Aldershot Military Museum website

References

{{coord missing, Hampshire Aldershot Buildings and structures in Aldershot Military prisons Demolished buildings and structures in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1958