Manchester Prison

Tel: 0161 817 5600 – Southall Street, Manchester, Lancashire M60 9AH

HMP Manchester has a capacity of 1,238 and opened in 1868. Although its official name is HMP Manchester, most people still refer to it by its original title of Strangeways. The name ‘Strangeways’ comes from the area in which the prison is constructed and the building itself is now Grade II listed. The establishment is a local prison serving the Greater Manchester area, which also holds category A adult male prisoners.

The 1990 Strangeways Riot still remains one of the most famous incidents in UK prison history. On the 1^st April, prisoners seized control of the prison chapel, before climbing to the rooftop in protest. The rioting continued for 25 days in total – making it the longest riot on record

Our Blog post looks into the history of HMP Manchester or Strangeways prison as its more commonly known, You can read it by clicking on the following link:

UK Prison History Uncovered: HMP Strangeways

For directions, please refer to the map on this page.

Tel: 0161 817 5600

Operational capacity: 1238

Southall Street, Manchester, Lancashire M60 9AH

Our Service helps inmates in HMP Manchester to save on the cost of a call to your mobile phone. Did you know the average cost of a call to a mobile from the pay phones within strangeways is 40p per minute?

By getting a prison phone package you can help the inmate by reducing this to a maximum of 10p per minute!

Send me Manchester prison details via FREE SMS

Here’s some facts about Manchester Prison

HMP Manchester, also known as Strangeways (after its location), is a category A prison in the Strangeways area of Manchester, Greater Manchester. Opened in 1868, the prison has capacity for 1,238 male prisoners.

A wing holds inmates in transition to first night/induction unit. B wing holds drug-free prisoners of those in the voluntary testing unit. C wing holds long-term and life-sentenced prisoner. It has been identified under ‘New ways of working’ to hold full-time prisoner workers. D wing holds convicted general population. E wing holds category A unit, including some category B and escape list prisoners. G wing first night/induction unit. H wing is a post-detoxification stabilisation unit, plus a separate unit delivering ‘Recovery through the gate’. I wing drug detoxification prescribing unit running in partnership with the substance misuse service. K wing holds trial/remand prisoners. M wing is the health care inpatients unit, for clinical admissions only.

An inmate was caught with Spice in custody in HMP Manchester, just two days after being taken in. Eric Best, 31, was jailed for robbery and possession of a knife in 2013, but breached licence conditions, so was recalled, and refused for 8 months. After the find, he was sentenced to sixteen months four possession of psychoactive substance in custody and remaining unlawfully at large.

To view the latest HMIP inspection report, click here.

Visiting hours are complex. For more information, click here.

More Facts

FACT 1

The prison used to accept female prisoners until 1963.

FACT 2

A convicted murderer spent 60 hours on the roof of the building, and caused £1 million of damage, protesting against having to spend up to 23 hours in his cell.