Barlinnie jail is granted official heritage status

VICTORIAN PRISON RECOGNISED AS PART OF SCOTLAND'S HISTORY

- BY DOUGLAS DICKIE

IT is Scotland’s most notorious prison and has housed some of the country’s most high-profile murderers, not to mention footballers, gangsters and politicians. And now HMP Barlinnie has been handed Category A-listed status by Historic Environment Scotland.

The heritage body described the Glasgow facility as “exceptionally important in the history of Scottish prison design and criminal justice”. Barlinnie is due to be replaced by a new “superprison” in the coming years, but the late 19th and early 20th century phases have been handed the designation reserved for the country’s most significant structures.

HES said Barlinnie was “the most complete surviving example of a historic prison in Scotland” and “has a place in the national conciousness”. The listing covers the surviving parts of the earliest layout of the site, developed between 1880 and 1908, including five accommodation halls, the chapel, the former infirmary and store building, the gatehouse, work sheds and the surviving parts of the early boundary wall.