HMP Durham originally housed men and women, was Category A now B and prisoners were transferred from the County gaol to Elvet prison in 1819. There were 91 hangings at Durham prison between 1816 and 1858 and the last person to hang was 21 year old soldier Brian Chandler who killed 83 year old Martha Dodd.

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In

1827 the prison diet was 2x helpings of oatmeal porridge, a pound of bread on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and on other days they had potatoes and fish. In 1820 visiting justices were appointed to inspect the prison 3 times per year to ensure acceptable standards, as documented above, before prison reform standards in the private prisons were notoriously poor.

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Serial killer Mary Ann Cotton was executed at Durham in 1873

The Bishop of Durham in a speech at the centenary of the prison said “This does feel a strange thing to celebrate. But all societies know that justice matters and mercy matters. A prison is central to what a society is all about.”