A look behind the prison walls into the prison yard of the old Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast Northern Ireland with its imposing Victorian architecture
Wikipedia Designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, the prison was built between 1843 and 1845 and cost £60,000. Built as a replacement for the County Gaol on Antrim Street in Carrickfergus, and known as the County Gaol for Antrim, it was constructed of black balsalt rock on ten acres at the bottom of the Crumlin Road. Partly based on HM Prison Pentonville, it was one of the most advanced prisons of its day. Built within a five-sided wall, the four wings are up to four storeys in height and fan off from the central area which was known as The Circle. The prison was originally built to hold between 500 and 550 prisoners in cells that measured 12 x 7 feet. It was the first prison in Ireland to be built according to "The Separate System", intended to separate prisoners from each other with no communication between them. Later, especially in the early 1970s, as many as three prisoners were placed in each cell.
Size: 5184px × 3456px
Location: 97 Crumlin Rd, Belfast BT14 6AD, UK
Photo credit: © MICHAEL HARPER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 17th, alcatraz, arch, architecture, attraction, austere, bars, basalt, belfast, black, building, centre, century, charles, construction, crumlin, custody, design, detention, doors, entrance, europes, experience, famous, gaol, gates, granite, guided, historic, ireland, iron, jail, jailhouse, landmark, lanyon, listed, museum, nickname, northern, prison, prisoners, project, punishment, railings, ramparts, restoration, restored, road, rock, sir, steps, stone, stonework, tourism, tourist, tours, ulster, victorian, visitor, walls, yard
