Kirkham (HM Prison)
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HM Prison Kirkham is a Category D men's prison, located southwest of Kirkham in Lancashire, England. 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


RAF Kirkham

The prison's location was originally the site of RAF Kirkham, which was built by
George Wimpey George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a constructi ...
on of land bordering the A583 road from
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
to Preston. Work commenced in 1939 and the camp opened in 1940 as a training camp for RAF tradesmen. Up to 1945 it trained 72,000 British and allied service men and women. In November 1941 Kirkham became the main armament training centre for the RAF, with 21 different trades and 86 different courses on equipment and weapons. Pupils came not only from the
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, but the United States, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, France,
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,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. Kirkham had ten hangars as well as its own cinema and hospital. From May to December 1945 Kirkham became a demob centre. After the war it trained RAF boy entrants until December 1957 when it closed.


Kirkham Prison

In the early 1960s part of the facility was taken over by the Home Office with HMP Kirkham opening in 1962 as an
open prison An open prison (open jail) is any jail in which the prisoners are trusted to complete sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment w ...
. The rest of the land lay derelict, but is now used for agricultural purposes and a
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
. Today most of the infrastructure, services and buildings of the prison are still of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
vintage, though prisoner accommodation is located in more modern buildings. In June 2003 it emerged that Kirkham Prison had seen more prisoners abscond than any other open prison in England and Wales. Statistics showed that 911 inmates had absconded from 1998 to 2003. In January 2004 Kirkham became the first prison in England (along with HMP Morton Hall) to trial the Intermittent Custody Scheme. The scheme saw some inmates held at Kirkham from Monday to Friday (released at weekends), while another set of prisoners were held on Saturdays and Sundays (released during the week). The scheme was designed to allow prisoners on short sentences to remain in employment, independent housing and maintain family ties during their jail terms. The scheme was subsequently abandoned in November 2006. In August 2004 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 statistics revealing that Kirkham had the worst record for inmate drug use of all prisons in England. A survey of drug tests at the prison showed that 35% of inmates tested positive for controlled substances. In 2011 inmates were involved in a scheme to restore Blackpool trams on behalf of the Friends of Fleetwood Trams.


The prison today

Kirkham is an open men's prison, and holds Category D prisoners who can reasonably be trusted to serve their sentence in open conditions. Kirkham provides morning and afternoon education provided by
The Manchester College The Manchester College is the largest further education college in the United Kingdom and the largest single provider of 16-19, adult and higher education in Greater Manchester, with more than 25% of Greater Manchester’s learning provision un ...
. Offenders are also employed in the prison's kitchen, workshops, farms and gardens and works departments. The full operational capacity is 630. There are 24 dormitories (or billets), of varying size, each with its own telephone. There are 572 single rooms, each with its own key. Nine of the rooms are double occupancy. All rooms have television access and three of the dormitories have personal en-suite facilities including showers. There are limited disabled facilities with wheelchair access. In 2012 the prison celebrated its 50th anniversary.


Notable former inmates

* George Reynolds *
Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the split in 1996, he began a solo career, re ...
*
Simon Garner Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
*
Jan Mølby Jan Mølby (; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in Engl ...


References


External links


Ministry of Justice pages on Kirkham
{{Borough of Fylde buildings Kirkham Kirkham Buildings and structures in the Borough of Fylde 1962 establishments in England Kirkham