History
The prison originated as a county gaol in 1808 and served as a Home Office archive during the First World War. After a time as a Naval Detention Centre, the prison was converted into a Category C prison for men.
In 2003 Canterbury Prison was highlighted by the Prison Reform Trust as being one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country, claiming that Canterbury was overpopulated 57%. Two years later the Howard League for Penal Reform criticised the prison for its high rates of suicides amongst inmates.
In 2007 Canterbury Prison was converted to hold only foreign national prisoners in the UK. This was to allow a centralisation of specialised immigration and language services for foreign prisoners, as well as to allow dedicated immigration officials to work on the deportation of as many inmates as possible (on completion of their sentence).
In 2008 the Princess Royal visited Canterbury as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the prison.
On 10th January 2013,, the Ministry of Justice announced that Canterbury was one of six prisons that would close. The prison formally closed on 31st March 2013.
Read more about this topic: Canterbury (HM Prison)
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