HM Prison Durham

The prison was constructed with the help of the then Bishop of Durham who gave £2000 towards the original building. The first builder was sacked before completion. The second who died before completion was replaced by a third Mr. Bonomi. The prisoners were moved in, in 1819. Conditions were probably not as respectable as today’s but were better than those in the previous prison. Food was to two helpings of porridge and a pound of bread, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. On other days were potatoes and fish.
The prison has more than 400 cells and a resident Ghost who is said to haunt a cell on the ground floor. The cell was converted into a storeroom following complaints from inmates who claimed to see a murder chillingly reinacted in the cell during the night. It is said that a former occupant of the cell was stabbed to death by another inmate.