HM Glendairy Prison, Colonial prison in Station Hill, Barbados
HM Glendairy Prison was a detention facility in Station Hill comprising multiple buildings and cell blocks designed to house up to 1,000 male and female inmates. The complex was enclosed within perimeter walls and served as the island's main correctional center.
The facility was constructed in 1855 and operated for 150 years until a major uprising in March 2005 caused its destruction by fire. This event marked the end of one of the island's longest-serving institutions.
Glendairy appeared in season six of the television series Locked Up Abroad, and British prisoners held at the replacement HMP Dodds wrote books about their experience, among them Will Mellor and Terence Donaldson, author of Hell in Barbados. After the 2005 fire, proposed uses for the Station Hill property included a rehabilitation centre for ex-offenders, halfway housing for people addicted to drugs, and housing for individuals with a known mental illness.
The location is no longer accessible as a functioning prison because operations were transferred to the new HMP Dodds facility in St Philip district in 2005. Visitors can only view the ruins and grounds from outside.
Scenes of Glendairy Prison appeared in season six of the television show Locked Up Abroad, and British prisoners held at the replacement HMP Dodds wrote books about their experience, including Hell in Barbados by Will Mellor and Terence Donaldson.
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