HM Prison Lincoln is a Category B 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

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

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. A category B prison which allocates convicted prisoners within its catchment area.

History

Lincoln opened as a local prison in 1872 to hold remand and convicted prisoners and replacing the prison at

Lincoln Castle Lincoln Castle is a major medieval castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only ...

. The original 1869–72 structures designed by Frederick Peck are now

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s and are notable examples of

High Victorian High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Promo ...

gothic design. The prison accommodation has been altered and extended at various times in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1961 a total of 18

judicial execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

s took place at the prison. The last execution was that of Wasyl Gnypiuk, a 34-year-old Polish-Ukrainian immigrant. After being convicted of the murder of Louise Surgey (his 62-year-old landlady) at Nottingham Assizes, Gnypiuk was

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

by executioner Harry Allen on 27 January 1961. Afterwards, his body was buried in an

unmarked grave An unmarked grave is one that lacks a marker, headstone, or nameplate indicating that a body is buried there. However, in cultures that mark burial sites, the phrase unmarked grave has taken on a metaphorical meaning. Metaphorical meaning As a ...

within the walls of the prison, as was customary. In October 2002 inmates set fire to parts of the prison and seized control of at least one section of the prison during a large

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

at Lincoln. The disturbance started when a prison officer was attacked by a prisoner. A number of prisoners then jumped on the officer, assaulted him and dragged him into a cell and took his keys. It took prison officers eight hours to bring the riot under control. In March 2003 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 ...

issued a report claiming that Lincoln Prison was unstable and suffering inconsistent leadership. The Trust also labelled Lincoln as the nation's most overcrowded prison, holding 13 inmates over its maximum capacity of 738. Its operational capacity as of December 2020 is 600 inmates.

The prison today

Lincoln is a Category B local prison holding adult male remand and convicted prisoners from the courts in Lincolnshire,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. Accommodation at the prison is spread across four residential wings (A, B, C & E wings) and a segregation unit. The regime at Lincoln includes production workshops, charity workshops,

laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...

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 ...

, vocational training courses and Offending behaviour courses. Other facilities include the prison's

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

Notable former inmates

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

; English author and politician, imprisoned for perjury *

Don Brothwell Donald Reginald Brothwell, (1933 – 26 September 2016) was a British archaeologist, anthropologist and academic, who specialised in human palaeoecology and environmental archaeology. He had worked at the University of Cambridge, the British M ...

; British archaeologist who was imprisoned after refusing the call-up for National Service as a conscientious objector * Fred Nodder; Child murderer executed at Lincoln in 1937; In 1954 his infamous crime led to English case law no longer requiring a body. *

John George Haigh John George Haigh (; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...

; English serial killer in the 1940s *

John Poulson John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (14 April 1910 – 31 January 1993) was a British architectural designer and businessman who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery was disclosed in 1972. The highest-ranking figure to be forced ...

; British architect and businessman, imprisoned for bribery *

Percy Toplis Francis Percy Toplis (22 August 1896 – 6 June 1920) was a British criminal and imposter active during and after the First World War. Before the war he was imprisoned for attempted rape. During the war he served as a private in the Royal ...

; the subject of the controversial Monacled Mutineer series about his alleged role in the

Étaples mutiny The Étaples mutiny was a series of mutinies in September 1917 by British Army and British Imperial soldiers at a training camp in the coastal port of Étaples in Northern France during World War I. Background Before the war, Étaples, sou ...

served two years hard labour for attempted rape *

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

; Irish politician, later

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

and

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

* Charles Salvador; British Prisoner

References

External links

Pages on Lincoln
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln (Hm Prison) Prisons in Lincolnshire Category B prisons in England 1872 establishments in England

HM Prison His Majesty's Prisons (Her Majesty's Prisons in the case of a female monarch) is the name given to prisons in the United Kingdom, as well as some in Australia and a small number in Canada, Grenada, Jersey, The Bahamas and Barbados. The title mak ...

Men's prisons