HMP Lewes, also known as Lewes Prison or Lewes County Gaol, was built on Brighton Road in Lewes between 1850 and 1853[1]. Using designs by the architect, Daniel Rowlinson Hill, the prison followed the model of Pentonville prison with four wings; one each for males, females, juveniles and debtors)[2]. Costing a total of £56,000, the prison opened for use in 1853 initially housing both male and female convicts, however upon closure of the female wing during WWI, the female inmates were relocated to Holloway Prison[3]. The prison, still active today, has served many uses during its operation and has seen a variety of notable inmates incarcerated throughout its history.
The Prison Ghost
Lewes Prison has not only housed some famous convicts but is also thought to be the home of a resident ghost[4]. Reports from two prison officers in the 1990s, who were guarding the corridor which once connected the male and female wings but now leads to the prison chapel, detailed a sighting of what was thought to be a female ghost, wearing a cape of some description[5]. The ghost was seen walking down the corridor and failed to respond to the prison officers’ calling, before disappearing into a brick wall; it has been suggested that the spirit is of a Victorian lady who, when visiting her incarcerated family member, dropped dead at the sight of the prison conditions [6].
Inmates You May Know
Sarah French, perpetrator of the ‘Onion Pie Murder’ in 1852, was incarcerated in HMP Lewes. She was the last woman to be hung in Lewes, drawing in a crowd of thousands of people[7]. Despite repeated denials, French was convicted of poisoning her husband, William, by putting arsenic in the onion pie she made for him on Christmas Eve, 1851[8].
Reggie Kray, one half of the infamous Kray twins, was incarcerated in HMP Lewes during his life sentence. The Kray twins were leaders of an organised crime group operating in the 1960s East End of London, but their criminal acts were often hidden behind their celebrity status. They mixed with the likes of Judy Garland, Diana Dors and Frank Sinatra[9]. However, their supposed ‘untouchability’ came to an end after murdering Jack “the Hat” McVitie in 1967, a member of their crime gang who had failed an assassination contract. Kray was sentenced to a 30-year prison sentence for the murder and eventually died in 2000 from bladder cancer[10].
The Prison Today
In 1990, Lewes Prison became a local prison housing short-termers and remands, after serving as a training prison for long-term prisoners in the 1970s[11]. In 2004, one million pounds was invested in a new healthcare unit and in 2008, the Sussex Wing was added allowing for a total capacity of 700 inmates[12]. As it is today, HMP Lewes is a resettlement prison for convicted and remand adult males who are primarily held in shared cells[13].
[1] Prison History, ‘Lewes Gaol’ [online] available at https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/lewes-gaol/, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[2] Heritage Open Days, ‘Lewes Prison’, [online] available at https://thefriendsoflewes.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/lewes-prison.pdf, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[3] Ibid.
[4] Paranormal Database, ‘Haunted Prisons and Jails’ [online], available at https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/reports/prisons.php, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[5] The Newsroom, ‘Nostalgia: Where many infamous criminals met their end’, in Eastbourne Herald, (2016)
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Capital Punishment UK, ‘Sarah Ann French’, [online], available at http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/french.html, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[9] Fandom, ‘The Kray Twins’, [online], available at https://thekraytwins.fandom.com/wiki/Reggie_Kray#Conviction_and_imprisonment, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[10] Ibid.
[11] Heritage Open Days, ‘Lewes Prison’, [online] available at https://thefriendsoflewes.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/lewes-prison.pdf, [accessed on 26th December 2020]
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
Written by Danielle Yates