Reading Prison is a Grade II listed building in the heart of Reading built on the site of part of Reading Abbey. The Gaol enforced the ‘separate system’ which ensured prisoners never saw, nor spoke to anyone. Oscar Wilde was famously imprisoned here between 1895 and 1897. His experiences led him to write The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
Throughout the twentieth century, the prison became an internment centre for suspect spies, a wartime military detention centre and a borstal. In 1969 it was reopened as a local prison following substantial alterations to the site, most notably the replacement of the perimeter walls. The prison closed in September 2013.
