HM Prison Channings Wood is a Category C men's

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, located in the parish of

Ogwell West Ogwell is a village and former civil parish and manor in Devon, England, located 2 miles south-west of the town of Newton Abbot and 1 mile west of the village of East Ogwell. It is now in the civil parish of Ogwell, administered by Teignbrid ...

(near Newton Abbot) in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The prison is operated by

His Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

History

The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

built a camp in Ogwell and

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...

in Denbury in the run up to the invasion of Europe in 1944. The site was taken over by the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

junior training Regiment. The construction of Channings Wood Prison began on the former

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

site in 1973, by a combination of contract and prison labour. The prison officially opened in July 1974,although some of the wooden huts remained in use whilst building and landscaping continued into the eighties. From the 1990s Channings Wood gained a reputation for pioneering therapeutic work to reform sex offenders and drug addicts. This was confirmed in a report by His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons in April 2003, however the report noted that overcrowding at Channings Wood was putting this good work at risk. Further accommodation was constructed at the prison in 2003. Channings Wood was praised again in a report in 2005 which highlighted the prison's education programme, accommodation and levels of safety. However, a year later ten inmates staged a roof-top protest at the prison for 28 hours. The prisoners were "protesting about their food being cooked by prisoners on the

sex offender registry A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions, registration i ...

." The protest ended peacefully. A new 64-bed unit was opened at Channings Wood in 2007. The new wing houses the specialist Therapeutic Community which tackles drug misuse issues amongst prisoners.

The prison today

Channings Wood Prison houses offenders serving a wide range of sentence lengths, and predominantly receives new arrivals from local prisons across the South West Area. Two of the residential living blocks at the prison make up the Vulnerable Prisoners Unit which specialises in delivering Sex Offender Treatment Programmes. The prison provides educational courses to prisoners, include Barbering,

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Catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

, Industrial

Cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. Cl ...

, Creative

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

, Customer Services, Driving Theory, Dry-Lining, Electrical Installation, ESOL, Food Hygiene, Fork Lift Driving,

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

, Painting and Decorating,

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

and

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

. It also offers

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

opportunities. The prison offers a gym and league sports. The prison chaplaincy offers a chapel and multi-faith room to inmates and staff at the prison.

Notable former inmates

* Luke McCormick * Harry Roberts

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on HMP Channings WoodHMP Channings Wood - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Channings Wood (Hm Prison) Category C prisons in England Prisons in Devon 1974 establishments in England Men's prisons