HM Prison Featherstone 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 village of

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

(near

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

), in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

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

Featherstone Prison was constructed on property previously owned by the

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 ...

. In the early 1980 inmates of the prison were found to be making forgeries of the work of

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

. Brinsford Prison was opened on the same site, adjacent to Featherstone in 1991. In a 2001 study by the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punish ...

, Featherstone Prison was revealed to have the highest number of drug-using prisoners in the UK. 34% of all inmates in the jail admitted to taking drugs. A year later it was revealed that inmates were brewing their own beer using

Marmite Marmite ( ) is a British savoury food spread based on yeast extract, invented by the German scientist Justus von Liebig. It is made from by-products of beer brewing ( lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan ...

, with fruit and vegetables also being used to make alcoholic drinks. However the governor of the day Mike Pasco stated that, while not condoning the practice, he found it preferable to the inmates smuggling hard drugs into the prison. In 2004, a report by

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons is the head of HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the senior inspector of prisons, young offender institutions and immigration service detention and removal centres in England and Wales. The current chief insp ...

stated that the drug problems at Featherstone had been "turned around", and that the prison "was largely calm and efficient with little

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

". However the report also warned that improvements had not been made without a cost, as the new emphasis on security "pervaded the life" of the prison, creating an "over-controlled" environment. In 2006 another report by the Chief Inspector criticised Featherstone Prison for its overcrowding and poor environment, "with poorly-managed

strip search A strip search is a practice of searching a person for weapons or other contraband suspected of being hidden on their body or inside their clothing, and not found by performing a frisk search, but by requiring the person to remove some or al ...

es and too many prisoners being locked in cells during the day." In 2007 a government study found that Featherstone Prison had the highest percentage of inmates in the UK testing positive for

opiates An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonist ...

such as

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

. During the study, prisoners were randomly tested throughout the UK over a three-month period, and 16.7% of the inmates tested at Featherstone had been taking opiates.

The prison today

An adult Category C Closed Training prison, Featherstone Prison has single and double cells. The prison offers

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

, workshops,

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 ...

, Enhanced Thinking Skills programmes, Welfare to Work programmes, a Job Club, community projects and a Listeners Scheme to its prisoners, who are required to work as directed by the Labour Board. There is a Visitors Centre outside the prison which has toilets, refreshments and children's play area.

Notable former inmates

Lee Hughes Lee Hughes (born 22 May 1976) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Stourport Swifts. A strong striker with excellent finishing abilities, Hughes represented the England semi-professional team once in 1996. ...

, former

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

striker.

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Featherstone

HMP Featherstone - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Authority control

Prisons in Staffordshire Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton