| Location | Peterhead, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 305 (February 2009) |
| Opened | 1880 |
| Managed by | Scottish Prison Service |
| Governor | Michael Stoney |
HMP Peterhead is a prison in the town of Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Peterhead convict prison was built around August 1888, and was designed to hold 208 prisoners. It was to be Scotland's only convict prison[1] Occupancy averaged at around 350 however, until peaking at 455 in 1911.[1] Additional buildings were completed in 1909, 1960 and 1962, bringing capacity up to 362.[1]
The first convicts were received at the prison in August 1888.
Until the opening of Peterhead Convict Prison, Scots convicts were transported to England to serve their sentences.
The prison supplied the labour force to work in Stirlinghill Quarry and in the Admiralty Yard attached to the prison. These convicts supported the work of a civilian labour force employed by the Admiralty to construct the Harbour of Refuge breakwater.
The Admiralty project was unique in Scotland, served by a unique railway line, the only state owned passenger carrying railway in its day
Peterhead has a history of poor conditions for prisoners, being referred to as "Scotland's gulag, a prison of no hope".[2] A recent prison inspection reported that electricity had only just been made available in all the cells and slopping out still continues at the prison.[3]
HMP Peterhead is now a specialist centre for sex offenders.[4]
Talks on replacing the current prison with a new one began in 2006.[5] They were revived in November 2006.[6][7]
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