The Old Prison, Northleach

The Old Prison stands at the crossroads where Northleach's West End meets the Fosse Way, now the A429, on the western edge of Northleach. It was established in 1791 as a house of correction, one of the new county prisons of Sir George Onesiphorus Paul's reforms, to designs by William Blackburn. A cell block and its nineteenth-century courtroom survive, and both are free to see.

History

Sir George Onesiphorus Paul led Gloucestershire's reform of its prisons in the late eighteenth century, and the Victoria County History records that the county prison at Northleach was established in 1791 on the lines he advocated, just west of the Fosse Way. Its architect was William Blackburn.

The prison

The buildings were laid out on a D-shaped plan. In the middle stood the governor's house and the prison chapel, with first-floor walkways at the back that the prisoners used on their way to chapel. A smaller block of about 1820 held a hand corn mill and then a treadmill, and later became the police station, with POLICE STATION cut over its door. A block of cells for women, with cross-shaped slit windows, was added in the 1840s; the Victoria County History gives 1842 and the listing 1844.

Magistrates and police

From the early nineteenth century the magistrates held petty sessions here, and in 1836 Northleach became the centre of a district of 25 parishes. From 1857 the prison held only prisoners on remand, and in 1859 part of the keeper's house was turned into a courtroom for the petty sessions. In 1936 and 1937 the main cell blocks were pulled down and the outer wall lowered; the police moved to West End in the town, and in 1938 the court's district was merged with Stow's. The prison stood in Hampnett parish until 1950, when the land west of the Fosse Way was added to Northleach.

A museum and a café

From 1980 the surviving buildings housed the Cotswold Countryside Collection, a rural life museum built on the Lloyd-Baker family's collection. In 2013 Cotswold District Council sold the Old Prison to the Friends of the Cotswolds, a Northleach charity, which runs the visitor attraction, while the Relish group runs the café. In 2022 the Friends won a grant of £235,600 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project, Rooted in the Community, with a community wellbeing garden, an education programme with local primary schools and an oral history project. The site is also home to the Cotswolds National Landscape team and the community station Cotswolds Radio.

What to see

The courtroom is the highlight. Inside the central block it keeps its nineteenth-century fittings: the semicircular magistrates' bench, the witness stand and the dock, so you can stand where the accused stood. The women's cell block of the 1840s survives too, with its cross-shaped slit windows, and the cells can be seen.

Outside, walk round to see Blackburn's plan: the central block of 1792 with its walkways at the back, the curtain wall linking it to the two smaller blocks, and the words POLICE STATION cut over the door of the block of about 1820. The building is listed Grade II*.

Visiting

The town council says the cells and courtroom are free to see. The Old Prison's own site gives its hours as 9am to 4pm every day, with a café run by Relish. A walk leaflet of 2022 said the café did not open in January or February, and the site mentions no winter closure, so ring 01451 860339 before a special trip in winter. Dogs on a lead are welcome in the café and the yard, but to protect the cells and courtroom they are not allowed in them. The town council says there is plenty of free parking, and there is disabled parking at the entrance.

Getting there

The Old Prison is on the A429 Fosse Way at the crossroads on the west side of Northleach (GL54 3JH), just off the A40 between Oxford and Cheltenham, with free parking. From the Market Place it is a few minutes' walk west along West End. On foot, Northleach, Hampnett and the Saltway passes it on the way out of town and crosses the A429 here, so take care at the crossing.

Nearby

Back in the town, St Peter and St Paul, the wool church, has one of the finest sets of brasses in England, and the Wheatsheaf is the coaching inn on West End. A mile up the lane is the painted Norman church of St George, Hampnett, the parish the prison once stood in. For another small lock-up, see the Curfew Tower in Moreton-in-Marsh.