HMP Shepton Mallet was opened before 1625 but was already in poor repair by the end of the First English Civil War in 1646. It was expanded in 1790, but conditions were again criticised in a report of 1822 and further building work was undertaken in the 1820s and 1830s. This included the installation of a treadwheel for those sentenced to hard labour.
In 1843 the number of cells was increased by adding a second storey to each wing. The prison was damaged during a fire in 1904. In 1930 the number of inmates had fallen and the prison was closed.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Shepton Mallet was reopened as a military prison. It was initially used by the British Army. In November 1940, three British soldiers, who were incarcerated in room 142 close to the B1 landing, died of asphyxiation or carbon monoxide poisoning. Another soldier, also held in the same room, survived.
Later in the war the prison was handed over to American forces, who constructed an execution block to hang condemned prisoners. Under the provisions of the USA (Visiting Forces) Act 1942, 18 American servicemen were executed at the prison; 16 were hanged in the execution block and two shot by firing squad in the prison yard. Three of the hangings were double executions, in which two condemned prisoners stood together on the gallows and were executed simultaneously when the trapdoor opened. The remains of those executed were buried in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison, as was customary following British executions.
Following the war the prison continued as a ‘glasshouse’, or military prison, until it was returned to civilian use in 1966. The gallows in the execution block were removed in 1967, and the room became the prison library. A new kitchen, boiler room, chapel and education block were added. In January 2013, then-justice secretary Chris Grayling announced that Shepton Mallet prison would be one of seven prisons in England to close as a cost-saving measure. It finally closed on 28 March 2013.
Shepton Mallet prison is widely recognised as the most haunted prison in the world, and one of the most haunted locations in the UK. With paranormal activity said to be commonplace throughout the prison, visitors and staff often report sightings and sounds that seem to defy explanation.
In the 1970s, whilst the prison was still functioning, the Home Office was requested to investigate some strange happenings in one of the wings. An increase in prisoners requesting additional bedding due to a cold draught was becoming an issue, and the occasional smell of sweet perfume would waft around the prison. Prisoners were becoming uncomfortable in their cells and officers started to refuse to work the night shifts. The Home Office carried out a three-day investigation, but the results were inconclusive.
As the years passed, new reports came in of draughts and perfume smells. Some night officers would report seeing shadows and a white figure standing on the stairs. The story of ‘the white lady’ was revealed after some research. She had murdered her husband and was brought to Shepton Mallet prison for her final days before being hanged in the town centre. The night before her execution, she was offered her final request, and asked to wear her wedding dress. The morning of her execution, the door to her cell swung open and officers found her lifeless body lying on the bed, dressed in the wedding dress. No marks were found on her body, and it was concluded that she must have died of a broken heart.
She is said to still wander the wings, and sightings of her have been reported on multiple occasions – along with continued reports of the wafting smell of sweet perfume.
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