HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs

19th century

The initial steps in the winter of 1874 involved the construction of a small prison made of corrugated iron and a temporary shed to serve as a barracks for the warders. Nine specially picked prisoners, all within a year of release, completed the buildings, after which 50 more prisoners were brought to erect a second temporary prison wing. Building then began on the permanent prison, with bricks being manufactured on site. By the summer of 1875, enough bricks had been prepared to build the prison's first block and its ground floor was finished as winter began. Construction was completed in 1891.^[1]

The Second World War

During the Second World War, the prison was taken over by the War Department and the prisoners were evacuated to other prisons. It was used as secure office space for the duration of hostilities, and housed MI5 and MI8.

Modern era

In 1979, IRA prisoners staged a rooftop protest over visiting rights. Sixty inmates and several prison officers were injured. In 1982, an inquiry blamed much of the difficulties on failings in prison management. The Governor, John McCarthy, had quit before the rioting. In a letter to The Times, he had described Wormwood Scrubs as a "penal dustbin".

General view to the prison from park

In the 1990s, a police investigation into allegations of staff brutality resulted in the suspension of 27 prison officers and the conviction of six for assault, though three later won appeals against conviction. The Prison Service paid out more than three million pounds in out-of-court settlements with ex-prisoners who had alleged brutality. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons delivered a damning report on the conditions, in which the prison was told to improve or close.

In March 2004, a further report from the Chief inspector stated that Wormwood Scrubs had greatly improved after making fundamental changes. Three quarters of inmates at the prison had said that staff treated them with respect, which was better than the national average. However, the report also stated that inmates spent too much time in their cells, and that only 36 per cent of eligible inmates were involved in education or work.^[2]

In November 2008, another report from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector stated that conditions at Wormwood Scrubs had deteriorated since the last inspection. Heightened prison gang activity had been detected, and 20 percent of prisoners had failed drugs tests.^[3]

On 10 March 2009, the prison was listed as a Grade II building, principally because of its distinctive gatehouse.^[4]

Major structural changes to the prison's management took place in 2013. In 2014, another report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons was critical of the prison, describing it as "filthy". The inspectors also stated that there had been a failure to put into place recommendations by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to deal with suicide and self-harm. The Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, a charitable body, said "I have never seen a public service deteriorate so rapidly and so profoundly."^[5]

Literature

• Death of a Train (1946) An Inspector French Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts
• One of the main characters in Sarah Waters's novel "The Night Watch" (2006) served his sentence at the Scrubs.
• Peter Wildeblood was imprisoned in the Scrubs in 1954. His book "Against the Law", describes his trial and imprisonment.
• The prison is mentioned in the Russian novel Figurehead, by Danil Koretsky (Данил Корецкий, Подставная фигура). The parents of the principal character are held in the Scrubs and are unsuccessfully sought-out by the Russian SVR.
• Bunny Manders, the narrator of the A. J. Raffles stories by E. W. Hornung, serves his sentence at Wormwood Scrubs.

Film and television

In films and TV programmes set in Britain the front entrance of Wormwood Scrubs is frequently chosen as a location for scenes showing a character being released from prison, as, for example, in:

• Billy Liar
• The Man In Possession
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
• The Horse's Mouth
• Hot Millions
• A Very British Coup
• Cass
• The Sweeney – "One of Your Own"
• The Italian Job'
• The Baron – "Something for a Rainy Day"
• Porridge (both the television series and the film)
• Minder, in the episodes "Bury My Half at Waltham Green" and "The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs"; Terry McCann, the titular minder, also served his time in the Scrubs before the series began and the front of the prison can be seen in the opening credits.
• Danger Man – in the episode "Such Men Are Dangerous" John Drake (played by Patrick McGoohan) is substituted for a man being released and is shown leaving the Scrubs.
• Steptoe and Son
• Rumpole of the Bailey series 2 "Rumpole and the Age for Retirement" 1979
• The Slammer used the prison doors to show winners of the Freedom Show being released.

A two-part documentary, Wormwood Scrubs, was shown on ITV1 in May 2010.

Music

• Gary Moore is shown being escorted out of the prison entrance by a guard on the cover of his 1978 album, Back on the Streets.
• The prison is mentioned in The Jam's hit song, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and in Billy Bragg's 'Rotting on Remand' from the Workers Playtime album.
• The Pete Doherty song "Broken Love Song" is about the singer's tenure in the prison in early 2008.
• Spike Milligan recorded "The Wormwood Scrubs Tango" about an elderly car thief in the prison.
• In 2018 Murdoc Niccals, fictional bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz, was sent to the prison in the story surrounding the album "The Now Now".^[10][11]