Her Majesty's Prison Glendairy was built in 1855 to offer a modern and secure premises to house the growing prisoner population of the island. This prison served Barbados as the main and only prison until a riot broke out on March 30th 2005. The fire consumed the classrooms, workshops, bakery and sections of the main prison building. The architecture is reminiscent of the Garrison buildings (home to the British West India Regiment), but on a grander scale. The walls are built of local limestone and are near 3 feet thick, to weather any possible hurricane damage. On the 29th of October, 2016 it was officially decommissioned and for the first time in its existence the general public were allowed to tour the facility. Please enjoy these pictures and the story they tell.
Main Prison Entrance (aka Road to Hell)
Facade of Prison Block 'K'
Fire damage visible in the front facade. This was the building managers and other prison warden offices.
View attachment 710481
Some prisoners were allowed to decorate their cells. Some of these cells were double or even triple occupancy.
A former inmate shows the cell he called home for a few years.
Evidence of fire damage.
Maximum security exercise yard.
View from the gallows.
A former inmate demonstrates the gallows.
The last hangings in Barbados took place in 1984 when Noel Ricardo Jordan, Melvin Inniss and Errol Mopsie Farrell were hanged.
The Trap Door mechanism below the gallows.
Old workshops
The bakery and its chimney.
Below shows the unmarked graves of the condemned.
Main Prison Entrance (aka Road to Hell)
Facade of Prison Block 'K'
Fire damage visible in the front facade. This was the building managers and other prison warden offices.
View attachment 710481
Some prisoners were allowed to decorate their cells. Some of these cells were double or even triple occupancy.
A former inmate shows the cell he called home for a few years.
Evidence of fire damage.
Maximum security exercise yard.
View from the gallows.
A former inmate demonstrates the gallows.
The last hangings in Barbados took place in 1984 when Noel Ricardo Jordan, Melvin Inniss and Errol Mopsie Farrell were hanged.
The Trap Door mechanism below the gallows.
Old workshops
The bakery and its chimney.
Below shows the unmarked graves of the condemned.
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