{"id":292309,"date":"2026-02-15T08:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/292309\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T08:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:41:08","slug":"britains-first-all-female-prison-stood-in-surrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/292309\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s first all-female prison stood in Surrey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain’s first purpose built women’s prison once stood on the outskirts of a Surrey town.<\/p>\n

Woking Female Convict Prison opened in 1869 and could hold up to 780 inmates. Until then, prisoners would have been held in adapted wings of male prisons.<\/p>\n

The complex cost about \u00a345,000 to build and was constructed largely by male convicts from a neighbouring prison. But the site was closed by 1895, as female convict population had fallen sharply, and it was later passed to the War Office and was used as a military hospital during the World War One.<\/p>\n

Rosemary Christophers, from Woking History Society, told Secret Surrey that the prison was located about two miles from the town centre.<\/p>\n

She added: “Not much remains, except for some rows of prison officer houses, which are now terraced houses. The rest of the prison is now just houses.<\/p>\n

“It only reached maximum capacity in its early days and when it closed, it had 195 inmates who were transferred elsewhere.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Some of the inmates did mosaic work, which has now been preserved [Fiona McCarthy\/BBC]<\/p>\n

When it opened, it was one of the largest female prisons in Europe, made up of long corridors, segregated wings, a chapel at the centre of daily life and extensive workrooms where inmates undertook laundry, needlework and other labour deemed suitable for women, Christophers said.<\/p>\n

“We know what happened on a day in 1873 as a record was published,” she added.<\/p>\n

“The day was divided into 14 hours and they had two meals; each was 30 minutes long.<\/p>\n

“The labour was skills that would have been useful to them when they left prison and some of them, although not a large number, did mosaic work.”<\/p>\n

Many mosaics were originally laid into paths and garden spaces around the prison grounds, but several were later removed and preserved.<\/p>\n

Some of them can be found at St Paul’s Cathedral, the V&A Museum and Young V&A and at St John’s Church.<\/p>\n

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook<\/a>, on X<\/a>. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk <\/a> or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.<\/p>\n

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