![Birmingham : The Prison at Winson Green [c.1910]](https://www.old-photographs.co.uk/images/warwickshire/birmingham/winson-green-prison.jpg "Birmingham : The Prison at Winson Green [c.1910]")
Main Entrance to H.M.P. Winson Green in Birmingham c.1910 [Author's Collection]. Map extract from Sheet 131, Birmingham - 1:63 360 Ordnance Survey Map [Depicted 1950,
Published 1953] © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.
Main Entrance to H.M.P. Winson Green in Birmingham c.1910
In the early 19th century the land around Winson Green was regarded as unsuitable for agricultural use but was deemed a favourable location for the public institutions that a developing town required. Birmingham was having to send its prisoners to the County Gaol at Warwick. In 1844 the council resolved to build a gaol within the borough. Mayor Thomas Philips laid a foundation stone at Winson Green on October 29th, 1845. Designed by the architect Daniel Rowlinson Hill, of Christ Church Passage, construction of the building took some four years. It was open daily for public inspection from September 3rd to the 14th, 1849.¹ Built on the Pentonville model, the estimated cost of construction was estimated at around £60,000 but, as usual, was much higher. The first inmate was interned on October 17th 1849.
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References
1. "Borough Gaol" : Birmingham Journal; September 1st, 1849. p.1.
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