HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, Bar and Bar-L. In 2018, plans for its closure were announced.

History

HMP Barlinnie from the air (geograph 5716363)

Barlinnie was designed by Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson, architect and engineer to the Scottish Prison Department, and it was built in the then rural area of Riddrie adjacent to the Monkland Canal (now the route of the M8 motorway), first opening with the commissioning of A hall in July 1882. Barlinnie prison's five accommodation halls: A, B, C, D and E, were built in stages between 1882 and 1897, with each holding approximately 69 inmates. There was a major extension to the perimeter in 1967 to create an industrial compound. From 1973 till 1994, the world-famous "Special Unit" placed emphasis on

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

, the best known success story being that of reformed Glasgow gangster Jimmy Boyle. Cultural output associated with the Special Unit included Boyle's autobiography, ''A Sense of Freedom'' (1977); ''The Hardman'' (1977), the play Boyle wrote with Tom McGrath; a body of sculpture; and ''The Silent Scream'' (1979), a book of prose and poems by Larry Winters, who committed suicide in 1977.

Capital punishment

A total of 10 judicial executions by hanging took place at HMP Barlinnie between 1947 and 1960, replacing the gallows at

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before the final abolition of

capital punishment in the United Kingdom Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and t ...

for murder in 1969: Each of the condemned men had been convicted of murder. All the executions took place at 8.00 am. As was the custom, the remains of all executed prisoners were the property of the state, and were therefore buried in

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 f ...

s within the walls of the prison. During the D hall renovations of 1997, the prison gallows cell (built into D-hall) was finally demolished and the remains of all the executed prisoners were exhumed for reburial elsewhere. The first man to escape from Barlinnie was John Dobbie, three days after being sentenced to 15 years for a violent robbery in 1985. Dobbie escaped inside a laundry van, he was captured by armed police five days later and was sentenced to a further five years.

Current use

Today Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland, holding well over 1,000 prisoners although it has a design capacity of 987. The prison currently receives prisoners from the courts in the West of Scotland as well as retaining male remand prisoners and prisoners serving less than 4-year sentences. It also allocates suitable prisoners from its convicted population to lower security prisons, including

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and

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, as well as holding long-term prisoners in the initial phase of their sentence prior to transfer to long-term prisons such as HMP Glenochil, HMP Shotts,

HMP Kilmarnock HM Prison Kilmarnock is a prison in Bowhouse, Hurlford near Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated south-east of Hurlford on the Mauchline Road. Its location means it is locally known as ''Bowhouse Prison''. The prison was opened ...

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. Barlinnie prison still consists of five accommodation halls with each holding approximately 200 inmates and an additional National Top End Facility (Letham Hall) housing long term prisoners nearing the end of their incarceration. All five accommodation halls were refurbished between 1997 and 2004. There is also a hospital unit with accommodation for 18 prisoners, which includes eight cells specially designed for suicide supervision. A new administration and visiting block was completed in 1999. The in-cell bucket-as-toilet routine known as

slopping out Slopping out is the manual emptying of human waste when prison cells are unlocked in the morning. Inmates without a flush toilet in the cell have to use other means (formerly a chamber pot, then a bucket, now often a chemical toilet) while locked ...

was still in practice there as late as 2003. Since 2001, refurbishment has taken place after critical reports by the Scottish Chief Inspector of Prisons. In October 2018, it was announced that HMP Barlinnie is to be sold and replaced with a new superjail within Glasgow or its outskirts. In 2019, local MP

Paul Sweeney Paul John Sweeney FIES ( gd, Pòl Eòin Mac Suibhne; born 16 January 1989) is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party, he currently serves as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region ...

proposed that the historic prison buildings be saved from demolition and converted into a

prison museum Museums have been created from many former jails and prisons. Some old jails converted into museums are listed under the original name of the jail, especially if listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. For example, see Old St. J ...

after it is decommissioned. In January 2020, the Prison Service announced that the proposed site for the replacement prison was a site adjacent to the nearby Provan Gas Works.

Notable former inmates

Paul Ferris Paul Ferris may refer to: * Paul Ferris (composer) (1941–1995), English film composer * Paul Ferris (footballer) (born 1965), Northern Irish former footballer and now physiotherapist * Paul Ferris (Scottish writer) (born 1963), Scottish writer and ...

– Glasgow Gangland figure * Jimmy Boyle *Hugh Collins – died 14 August 2021 aged 70. Glasgow Gangland figure, once dubbed Scotland's most dangerous prisoner, author and sculptor, married

Caroline McNairn Caroline McNairn (16 May 1955 – 29 September 2010) was a Scottish figurative painter. Biography Caroline McNairn was born in Selkirk in 1955. Her father (John McNairn) and grandfather (also John McNairn) were also painters. Her father di ...

Duncan Ferguson Duncan Cowan Ferguson (born 27 December 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Ferguson was the caretaker manager of Everton in 2019 and 2022. He began his career at Dundee United in 1990, and moved to Rangers in 1993 for what was ...

Peter Manuel Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel (13 March 1927 – 11 July 1958) was a Scottish-American serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958, and is believed ...

* Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – Lockerbie bomber (died of cancer in 2012) * Tommy Sheridan – Scottish politician

References

External links

HMP Barlinnie
on the SPS website
'Hanging With Frank' (video showing UK execution protocol at the old gallows in Barlinnie Prison)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hm Prison Barlinnie Government buildings in Glasgow

Barlinnie HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

1882 establishments in Scotland