London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Inside UK's first privately-run mega prison with barless windows and river views

Inside UK's first privately-run mega prison with barless windows and river views

IT MAY look like a budget hotel at a glance but these snaps actually show a glimpse inside the UK's first ever privately-run super prison.

With bar-free windows and river views, the first inmate will arrive at £253million at the mega-jail in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire next January after months of construction.

The mega prison in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, will hold 1,680 inmates

The windows will not have bars and some will have a river view

The blocks have been built in cross shapes with jail designers ditching the usual K-shaped formation of prison housing blocks


New photos show a light and airy double room and single room at Her Majesty’s Prison Five Wells, with brightly coloured walls and unobstructed views over the beautiful River Nene and a fishing lake.

It will hold up to 1,680 inmates - making it England's biggest jail - and has just been structurally finished, with works due to be completed by October.

HMP Five Wells tweeted: “Been a busy day on site today but took the opportunity to grab a couple of pics for you.

One of a double room, there are 84 in total, and one of the single rooms with the FANTASTIC barless window …albeit not the best view at present #bestprisonever.”

The category C jail is seen as a flagship example of the Government’s aim to create a “modern, efficient prison estate that is fit for the future” and will have a clear focus on rehabilitating offenders.

It has been built on the site of the former HMP Wellingborough site, which closed in 2012, and held a maximum of 650 adult male inmates.

The first inmate will arrive at the privately run jail on January 8 next year

The rooms have brightly coloured walls

The jail will have a clear focus on rehabilitating offenders


The prison build has been handled by Kier group, using pre-cast components containing recycled materials and the roof is covered with solar panels.

New aerial photos also show the landscaped grounds, which include a horticultural area and four football pitches, where prisoners can exercise.

The jail designers have ditched the usual K-shaped formation of prison housing blocks and instead used seven staggered cross-shaped buildings.

The K-block style has been favoured since Victorian times, with the idea that a single prison officer could be placed in the centre of the radial arms of corridors and survey all the cells quickly.

The new cross-shaped buildings mean the corridors are broken up into smaller zones, rather than miles of long corridors, which will enable prison staff to have more direct contact with prisoners.

The buildings have been arranged around landscaped courtyards, with the cross-shaped design offering a better use of outside space for sports and gardening facilities.

There will be one central hub for education, vocational training and social facilities.

The first inmate will be taken to the prison on January 8 next year.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×