You Can Now Have A Sleepover At A Prison

With lockdown easing in many parts of the country, how about getting locked up for the night?

Well, you can now experience what it's like to be behind bars at Shrewsbury Prison.

For the princely sum of £49, you can enjoy a tour of the Victorian jail and pick out your own cell, before bedding down for the night with a group of mates.

But don't worry, you'll be released bright and early the next morning.

Jailhouse Tours says: "A Night Behind Bars is a 12-hour overnight stay in a prison, without the sentence!

"Grab your friends, pick a cell, get comfortable - you're here for the night.

Jailhouse Tours

"The experience includes a 2½ guided tour around a haunted prison in the dark. After the tour, head out into the prison and wander the wings alone or buddy up with your fellow prisoners for cell games, including hide and seek.

"You may choose to head off in search of spirits or simply experience sleeping in a real prison cell. It's your night so it's your choice.

"The restaurant will be open for hot food and drinks, for dinner in the evening and breakfast in the morning."

The current building was built in 1877 and was an active prison until 2013, when the Ministry of Justice closed seven jails across the country, including Shepton Mallet, the UK's oldest functioning prison at the time.

Jailhouse Tours

Or if you like a little bit of drama with your history, you can also visit the Victorian jailhouse where the real life Peaky Blinders were held.

The creepy Steelhouse Lane Lock-up, in Birmingham, operated from 1891 until 2016 and housed the notorious gang of criminals who inspired BBC's gritty period drama.

Intrigued? Yeah, us too - luckily the general public are free to have a look around the 128-year-old building, where mugshots hang on the walls depicting gang members such as Harry Fowler, Ernest Bayles, Stephen McHickie and Thomas Gilbert, wearing the now-iconic flat caps.

The Peaky Blinders are said to have earned their chilling nickname after sewing razor blades into the peaks of their flat caps, so they could blind rival gangsters by headbutting them.

They ruled Birmingham's industrialised areas, Bordesley Green and Small Heath, in the early 1900s, a time when the city was one of the world's most important manufacturing hubs.

Police records reveal they were jailed for relatively minor offences such as breaking into shops, bike theft and 'false pretences' in October 1904.

Topics: UK News

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom