BARLINNIE'S BEGINNING

There used to be eight prisons in Glasgow and the surrounding area but by 1840 all but two were closed. These were:

·         'North' Prison at Duke Street - known as 'Bridgewall' (This closed 1955)

·         'South' Prison at Glasgow Green - known as 'Burgh' (this closed 1862)

Due to overcrowding, the decision was taken to build a new four-block prison housing 200 prisoners in each block.

1879     32.5 acres of land on which the prison now stands was bought for the purpose from Barlinnie Farm Estate for a total of £9,750.

1880    The building of Barlinnie prison began, surrounded by green fields. The site was chosen to be unaffected by mining, it was not liable to be overlooked by later buildings, it was on a bed of whinstone (including quarries), so not liable to suffer dampness and adjacent to the Monklands canal, where a wharf could be built to service the prison. (The bell hanging in the sterile area is reported to be from the original farm and was used to signal start and finish of work).The oldest part of the Health Centre building is reported to pre-date the jail and was the farm manager’s office and residence which was built round and incorporated into the prisons buildings).

1882     Barlinnie first became a "place of legal detention" with the commissioning of A hall on 25^th July 1882, receiving its first three prisoners on 15^th August. With the help of prisoner labour, (quarrying local stone and breaking it for aggregate), B, C and D Halls were completed between 1883 and 1892. Almost immediately, the numbers of prisoners exceeded expectations and necessitated the building of an additional block. In 1892/93 the perimeter wall was extended, and by 1897, E hall was complete to make the capacity up to c.900 (It is still possible to see where the stone of the original perimeter changes to roughcast concrete in the extension to the wall).

1889     35 "married warders quarters" were built outside the prison.

1890     The gymnasium was built.

1955      On the closure of the female prison in Duke Street, a female block, which later became the Special Unit and is now the Phoenix and MDT units, was erected.

1967      There was a major extension to the perimeter in 1967 to create the present industrial compound.  This evolution is still ongoing with the recent building of the staff and visits complex, refurbishment for EPIC and integral sanitation, and the option to begin replacement of out of date buildings continuously ongoing.  This process of evolution continued ever since.

Barlinnie late 1800's

RECENT REFURBISHMENTS.

1997     D Hall, completed in August 1997 at a cost of £5m.
1999     Staff and Visits, completed in August 1999 at a cost of £4m.
2002     B hall, completed in February 2002 at a cost of £2.25m
2002     New sheds 4 & 5, completed in Sept 2002 at a cost of £0.25m.
2002     C Hall, completed in Feb 2003 at a cost of £2.75m (additional cost to B Hall above being because this includes fire escapes whereas B Hall already had theirs in place).
2002     A Hall, the refurbishment was completed on 28^th July at a cost of £4m. After 122 years, there is now no slopping out at Barlinnie.
2004     E Hall, work began on 9^th August, and re opened March 2005.

The entrance to Barlinnie 2007.

GOVERNORS

There have been to date 20 Governors, though J Taylor held the post twice, making 21 tours of duty. 

Alexander Thomson is a past Governor of Barlinnie Prison is a native of Grange, in Banffshire. He is the son of Mr. Adam Thomson, of Croylet; was born in 1843, and received his education at the school of Edingight. He first entered upon the work of his profession in 1866 in Edinburgh Prison, where he remained ten years. In May, 1876, he was appointed Governor of the prison at Dunbarton, and seven years afterwards was transferred temporarily to the County Prison at Perth. Six months later Mr. Thomson was transferred to Inverness. Thence, in October, 1887, he went to Dumfries. During his ten years and a half of governorship there he effected many improvements, both in the buildings and in the administration of the prison, and established a reputation of being at once a rigid disciplinarian, and a real helper to those who could be helped. In 1898 he was advanced to the Governorship of Barlinnie. In May, 1903, His Majesty conferred upon Mr. Thomson a Companionship of the Imperial Service Order.

Mr Bill McKinlay O.B.E Governor of Barlinnie from 1st September 2001 to present day.

Woman Prisoners being released from Duke st Prison 1909.

Duke st Prison looking across the exercise yard 1909.