The 234 foot high, mineret-like, chimney of Strangeways Prison
is a prominent feature of the north Manchester skyline The
prison was built on the site of the Strangeways Park and Gadens
adopting the name. The architect was Alfred Waterhouse who went
on to design the Manchester Town Hall and the wonderful Natural
History Museum in South Kensington. The prison was built in a
radial design with wings ranging out from a dodecagonal central
hall accommodating 1000 prisoners. You can see it in 1949,
numbered 1, in the image below. It has two imposing gatehouses.
As the plaque near the entrance commemorates the prison opened
on June 25, 1868 In April of 1990 a riot broke out at
Strngeways. 47 prisoners and 147 members of staff were injured
and 1 prisoner died in the riot and some of the buildings were
virtually destroyed. The disturbance spawned a number of
disruptions in other prisons around the country. Following the
riot the prison was rebuilt The prison web site says this of the
establishment: "Manchester prison